Miracles -- Past and Present
Miracles -- Past and Present
Many in the denominational world contend that God is still
working miracles as He did in the time of the Old and New
Testament periods. The "Healing Lines," and "Healing Campaigns"
are not only very popular, they have become a very lucrative
enterprise for the modern day "Faith Healer." Most of the
miracles people believe in today do involve healing of physical
maladies. In this lesson we will define miracles, notice what
the Bible says about them, find out just what purpose they
served, and why they are no longer available to Christians today.
The West End Church of Christ is very happy to present these
fifteen minute lessons each Sunday morning. We do this for only
one purpose. We want to preach the truth of God's word without
the restrictions of human doctrines and wisdom. We are also very
deeply interested in your soul. We are convinced that there is
much error being taught in the religious world. It is not that
we feel we have a corner on truth -- we hold that the Bible is
the only corner on truth -- we are just interested in seeing that
you have the opportunity to hear the truth minus any
denominational flavor.
Please visit our meetings. Today we begin our schedule at 9
a.m. with Bible classes for all ages. At 10 a.m. we meet to
worship God and again at 6 p.m. this evening we worship. On
Wednesday night we have more Bible classes and in these studies
we engage in a study of truly relevant biblical topics that apply
to daily living in our generation. Please come and be our guest
-- at least just once. Our meeting house is located at the
corner of Old Morgantown Road and Parkside Drive, across from
Lampkin Park and Tapp’s Drive-In.
A miracle is not just an unexplained phenomenon. In the
Bible it always involved a specific intervention of divine power
into the realm of the natural. Miracles are defined in the Bible
in terms that indicate something about the great deeds. Miracles
are called, "miracles, wonders, and signs" in passages such as
Acts 2:22 and Hebrews 2:4. The term miracle itself comes from a
word that means, "power." It is translated from the Greek term
dunamis. It was "used of works of a supernatural origin and
character such as could not be produced by natural agents and
means." An Expository Dictionary of the New Testament, W.E. Vine,
page 412.
The next term is sign. A miracle was a sign to those who
observed it in process. A sign indicates something beyond itself
and the signs Jesus and the apostles worked were indicators of
the divine power behind them. Then there is the word wonder,
which indicates the effect it had upon those who observed it.
Basically, a Bible miracle is something for which God Almighty is
ultimately responsible in which human and divine instrumentality
combine to set aside known natural laws.
There are a number of groups claiming the power to perform
these miracles today. All of them cite God as their source of
power, as if God works through them all. Catholicism is known
for the miraculous claims at Lourdes in southern France. The
Mormons believe that God still works through them miraculously.
The Christian Scientists claim God miraculously uses them to cure
all sorts of diseases and the various Pentecostal and Charismatic
groups all claim the same. If God did work through them to work
miracles, doesn't it seem reasonable that He would overpower them
and make them teach and practice the same things? All of them
teach and practice differently, yet all claim to follow the
Bible, and all claim God works through them. This makes God go
against Himself. This is a preposterous claim.
It should be made clear that while denying modern day
miracles we do not deny the miracles Jesus and the early
disciples worked. Every miracle recorded in the Bible is true.
It actually happened just as the Scripture describes it. Nor
does a denial of modern day miracles demand that we deny miracles
will yet take place. One of the greatest miracles ever will
occur when Christ returns and takes His saints home with Him.
Furthermore, it should be understood that healing of
sickness, disease, or physical disability is divine -- not in the
sense of something miraculous, but in the sense that God has the
final word in healing. Doctors and medicines may be the natural
means of healing, but it is God who is behind every healing act.
A denial of the imaginary miracles men propose to do in religion
now does not mean one denies God's power. God has power to do as
He wills. The question is, "Does He will to grant men divine
powers today as He did in the first century?" This lesson denies
it simply because of what God Himself has revealed on the issue.
Bible miracles may be classed as follows:
1. Miracles in the natural world. The disciples were fearful
when a storm suddenly threatened their lives. They were at sea
and the storm seemed to them imminent danger. Jesus simply said,
"Why are you timid, you men of little faith?" Then the Bible
says, "He arose, and rebuked the winds and the sea; and it became
perfectly calm" (Matthew 8:26). Jesus demonstrated the power
over natural forces.
2. Miracles over physical diseases. Matthew says, "And Jesus
was going about in all Galilee, teaching in their synagogues, and
proclaiming the gospel of the kingdom and healing every kind of
disease and every kind of sickness among the people" (Matthew
4:23).
3. Miracles over demonic powers. Matthew also says that
Jesus cast demons out of people who were unfortunate victims of
demon possession. Matthew 8:16 reads, "And when evening had
come, they brought to Him many who were demon-possessed; and He
cast out the spirits with a word, and healed them all."
4. Miracles over matter. When crowds who came to hear Jesus
grew hungry, Jesus took a few fishes and loaves and miraculously
turned them into enough to feed thousands of people (Matthew
14:15-21).
5. Miracles over physical life. Jesus and His disciples
demonstrated the power over physical life in bringing certain
ones back to life from death (John 11:43-44; Acts 9:38-41; 20:9).
The power invested in the apostles came from Christ who
promised them the gift of the Holy Spirit. They were told, "...
stay in the city (Jerusalem) until you are clothed with power
from on high" (Luke 24:49). Just prior to His Ascension He again
said, "But you shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come
upon you ..." (Acts 1:8). The power was to come with the Spirit;
hence the Holy Spirit was the power Jesus gave His disciples by
which to perform miracles.
In previous lessons we have noticed that I Corinthians 12 is
a chapter in which supernatural gifts from the Spirit were given
to some of the early saints. Read the following verses
carefully: "Now there are varieties of gifts, but the same
Spirit. And there are varieties of ministries, and the same
Lord. And there are varieties of effects, but the same God who
works all things in all persons. But to each one is given the
manifestation of the Spirit for the common good. For to one is
given the word of wisdom through the Spirit, and to another the
word of knowledge according to the same Spirit: to another faith
by the same Spirit, and to another gifts of healing by the one
Spirit, and to another the effecting of miracles, and to another
prophecy, and to another the distinguishing of spirits, to
another various kinds of tongues, and to another the
interpretation of tongues. But one and the same Spirit works all
these things, distributing to each one individually just as He
wills" (verses 3-11).
The Holy Spirit worked through the early disciples in each of
these nine gifts. The word of wisdom, word of knowledge, faith,
gifts of healing, effecting of miracles, prophecy, discernment of
spirits, various kinds of tongues, and interpretation of tongues
all came from one spirit, but not every disciple had all the
gifts. In fact, not all disciples had any of these kinds of
gifts. The distribution was according to the will of the Spirit;
not the will of the recipient. Those today who claim to receive
one or more of these gifts usually claim it is because they have
sought diligently the baptism of the Holy Spirit with some
miraculous manifestation to follow it.
Miracles really had only one purpose. That purpose did not
include delighting the recipient. Paul had a "thorn in the
flesh" and fervently requested that the Lord remove it, but his
plea was not granted (II Corinthians 12:7-10). He said he left
one of his companion workers, Trophimus, in Miletus ill (II
Timothy 4:20). Wonder why Paul didn't heal him by miraculous
measures? The obvious reason is that miracles were not to
satisfy those who may have needed healing or other benefits.
Miracles did not serve as substitutes for natural means.
Jesus endorsed the use of doctors, medicines, and therapy. He
said, "the sick need a doctor" (Luke 5:31). Paul told Timothy to
"use a little wine for the sake of your stomach and your frequent
ailments" (I Timothy 5:23). It was the wise man of the Old
Testament who counseled, "A joyful heart is good medicine..."
(Proverbs 17:22).
The purpose of miracles was to confirm the word. Jesus said,
"But the witness which I have is greater than that of John (the
Baptist), for the works which the Father has given Me to
accomplish, the very works that I do, bear witness of Me, that
the Father has sent Me" (John 5:36-37). Peter affirmed, "You
know of Jesus of Nazareth how God anointed Him with the Holy
Spirit and with power, and how He went about doing good, and
healing all who were oppressed by the devil, for God was with
Him" (Acts 10:38).
When the apostles went forth preaching the word, Jesus
promised that signs would follow them such as "they will cast out
demons, they will speak with new tongues, they will pick up
serpents, and if they drink any deadly poison, it shall not hurt
them, they will lay hands on the sick and they will recover"
(Mark 16:17-18). By the time they had compassed the world with
the gospel (Colossians 1:23) the Hebrew writer could say, "God
also bearing them witness both by signs and wonders and by
various miracles and by gifts of the Holy Spirit according to His
own will" (Hebrews 2:4). The word is confirmed once and for all.
Jude 3 declares it. "Beloved, while I was making every effort to
write you about our common salvation, I felt the necessity to
write to you appealing that you contend earnestly for the faith
which was once for all delivered to the saints" (Jude 3). That
which is once and for all delivered and confirmed is complete and
final. It needs no further confirmation.
Bible miracles were so different than those
denominationalists claim to work today. Notice the contrast in
the following (comparison) diagram.
Bible Miracles
Complete Results
Undeniable Results
Done on various conditions
Not Conditioned on Faith
Always successful
Modern Day "Miracles"
Incomplete results
Sick told they will
improve.
Very questionable results
Conditioned on faith
Many failures
The honest student of the Bible must conclude that there is
not one Bible miracle that can be performed today. There is no
reason why one should even seek to perform miracles. Their
purpose was well served. God once made man miraculously but now
has set in motion His natural law of procreation. Once Jesus fed
people miraculously with loaves of bread, but now has set a
natural law in motion whereby man still eats bread from the hand
of the Lord -- but not miraculously.
If you have any question at all about this topic, or if you
would like extra study materials on it, contact us. You can write
us at West End Church of Christ, 1609 Parkside Dr., Bowling Green,
KY. 42101. Until the next time we have this opportunity to be
with you by radio, may God richly bless you and yours. Good bye.
Radio Sermon No. 40
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