But those things which proceed out of the mouth come forth from the heart; and they defile the man. For out of the heart proceed evil thoughts, murders, adulteries, fornications, thefts, false witness, blasphemies: These are the things which defile a man: but to eat with unwashen hands defileth not a man.

Matthew 15:18-20

I tell you the truth, anyone who has faith in me will do what I have been doing. He will do even greater things than these, because I am going to the Father.

John 14:12

Paul writes to Timothy, “But the goal of our instruction is love from a pure heart and a good conscience and a sincere faith.”  (1 Timothy 1:5).  This is the end final product of our instruction.

Consider, for a moment, the working of miracles.  Many have had miracle ministries in the church.  Many have finished well, and many have not.  Many have demonstrated the true heart and character of Jesus, while many have brought shame and disrepute, not intentionally but effectively, upon the body.  But, let us remember, the end of our instruction, the goal, was never miracles or the demonstration of power, but was God’s love in our hearts, a good conscience with faith.

The goal of our instruction is the heart, not the ministry.  Yet, Jesus also clearly said that those who believe in Him, the works that He was doing, they would do greater!  But, what Jesus taught, the pure and unadulterated heart, singularly loving Him and His Father, and loving others, and the single eye whereby the whole body is full of light, is the essential.  All true ministry, whether miracles or anything else, must always come from this, lest it be at best immature and at worst, false.

Consider the working out of all the things of the Kingdom.

Another parable put he forth unto them, saying, The kingdom of heaven is like to a grain of mustard seed, which a man took, and sowed in his field: Which indeed is the least of all seeds: but when it is grown, it is the greatest among herbs, and becometh a tree, so that the birds of the air come and lodge in the branches thereof.

Matthew 13:31-32

The seed produces the tree, and the entirety of the essence of the creation was in the beginning, but not yet visible.

The Word of God is sown in our hearts, and grows and produces after its kind.  The Word of God, in essence the very Word spoken by the Father in the Garden to the man, began to produce righteousness, until the fall.

Yet, for us today, that which is planted as a small thing produces the whole of the large.  By continuing in the Word received, the whole is made known.

Even in the heart of the believer, when he first believes, he receives this Word, Jesus Christ.  That in and of itself produces the fruit of the Kingdom, first the sprout, then the stalk, then the leaf, then the full head of grain.  So, the inward life that was deposited begins to affect the whole, and the Kingdom that is deposited within grows and is made known externally through the manifestation of God.

That is, that which is within grows and multiplies, until the fruits of the Kingdom are made manifest without.  The same must be said of the miraculous.

There are those who either have or have received a gift.  But, this gift is only rightly stewarded when the outward display of God is a reflection of the inward character of Christ formed within.  Without the heart of the Father, the gifts are mere show, and bear little if any resemblance to heaven.  Even if people are healed, and mighty signs are done even in the name of Christ, if they are not in accordance to the will and purpose of the Father, they are a abominable (lawlessness).

Not every one that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven. Many will say to me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in thy name? and in thy name have cast out devils? and in thy name done many wonderful works? And then will I profess unto them, I never knew you: depart from me, ye that work iniquity.

Matthew 7:21-23

We must be sure, these days, whether moving in the power of God ourselves or receiving ones who do, that that which is done is done increasingly with the heart of the Father.  While there is grace to learn and mercy for our mistakes, we must be about the Father’s business, learning and relying solely upon Him, and not merely on the outward gifts.  The cost of not doing so, and of not operating in the Father’s heart, is rejection from the Almighty.  If the works that we work, even in Christ’s name, are iniquity, and not His works, what good is that?

But, whether our gift is serving, praying, working of miracles, or any other function in the body, we must always let the goal of our instruction be the love from the pure heart.

Gifts will cease, and miracles will end.  There will be no need for God’s healing in heaven.  But, these three remain, faith, hope, and love.  But, the greatest of these is love (1 Corinthians 13:13).