1 Corinthians 12:10

INTRODUCTION

There are four temporary sign gifts listed in 1 Corinthians 12:10: miracles, healings, languages, and the interpretation of languages. First, we want to examine the gift of miracles.

A. The Certainty of Miracles

1. The Operation of God

a. His Intention

I am not going to say that God can't do miracles. God can, and does, whatever He wants to do. If He wants to do something that is against the normal natural law, He will do it. We are not attempting to put any limitations on God, we are only attempting to categorize His operation and deal fairly with Scripture. Please don't say that I don't believe God does miracles -- I believe He does. In fact, He does them hour by hour. And the greatest miracle of all is the miracle of the new birth -- people created as new creatures in Christ. We are not denying God the power, the desire, or the will to do miracles.

b. His Intrusion

It is also important that we carefully define what we mean by a miracle. People will say, "Oh, the other day I found a parking place at the store. It was a miracle!" That is not a miracle in terms of the biblical definition. Or people will say, "My son passed a course. It was a miracle!" Or they might say, "I needed this, and it came in the mail. It was a miracle!" We throw that word around very easily.

So, what is a miracle? A miracle is a supernatural intrusion into the natural law which can have no other explanation than that God is acting. There are some things that have other possible explanations: Circumstances could allow you to find a parking place at the store, and circumstances could allow your son to pass a course -- he studied hard. Circumstances can accommodate many things. But when a miracle occurs, it is a supernatural intrusion into the natural law, and only God could be responsible.

For example, suppose a man builds a model city. In this huge, model city, the cars, trains, and lights actually work. And He runs everything from a remote control electronic board. But every once in a while he will pick something up and move it to another place. Now, if you were alive in that model city, you would say, "What's going on! That building used to be over here, now it's over there." God created the universe, and He usually lets it run on its own. But every once in a while He picks something up and moves it. In other words, He will raise somebody from the dead, or make an axhead float on water, or part the Red Sea, or do something astounding and astonishing just so people don't forget that He is the one running the show. A miracle is something that has no other explanation.

2. The Operation of Christ

Now, we have to understand the general category of miraculous operation before we can study the miracle gifts. Jesus Christ, who is the greatest miracle worker, will give us what we need in order to understand more about miracles.

In his excellent book entitled Counterfeit Miracles, B.B. Warfield begins the book with these words: "When our Lord came down to earth He drew heaven with Him. The signs which accompanied His ministry were but the trailing clouds of glory which He brought from heaven, which is His home. The number of the miracles which He wrought may easily be underrated. It has been said that in effect He banished disease and death from Palestine for the three years of His ministry. If this is exaggeration it is pardonable exaggeration....

"We ordinarily greatly underestimate His beneficent activity as He went about, as Luke says, doing good.

"His own divine power by which He began to found His church He continued in the Apostles whom He had chosen to complete this great work."

a. Commending Christ

Jesus was a miracle worker. Why?

1) John 2:11 -- "This beginning of miracles did Jesus in Cana, of Galilee, and manifested forth His glory...." Why did Jesus do miracles? To manifest His glory. What is His glory? The composite of His attributes as deity. Why did He do miracles? To reveal Himself as God. Miracles are confirming signs of the revelation of God. That is, always has been, and always will be their intent.

2) John 5:36 -- "But I have greater witness than that of John; for the works which the Father hath given Me to finish, the same works that I do, bear witness of Me, that the Father hath sent Me." In other words, "My heavenly origin and My divine commission is proven by My miracles."

3) John 20:30-31 -- "And many other signs truly did Jesus in the presence of His disciples, which are not written in this book; but these are written, that ye might believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God; and that believing ye might have life through His name." Jesus did miracles to prove that God was being revealed in His living Word.

4) Acts 2:22 -- "Ye men of Israel, hear these words: Jesus of Nazareth, a man approved of God among you by miracles and wonders and signs...." God wanted you to know who Jesus was so He approved of Him, established Him, and commended Him by miracles, wonders, and signs.

b. Confirming Christ

Why does God do miracles? In order to corroborate His self- disclosure and in order to confirm His own revelation. Miracles are in Scripture for one purpose: to prove God is speaking, whether it is in the Old Testament written Word, the New Testament living Word, or the New Testament written Word. Miracles corroborate God's revelation. When God wanted people to know He was speaking, He did miracles. God normally operates the universe according to His created natural law, but when it comes time for God to make a self- revelation, He will, contrary to natural law, make things occur which have no explanation other than that God is revealing Himself. So, the purpose of Jesus' miracles were to reveal His deity.

B. The Conditions of Miracles

1. The Limited Period

It is important to understand that there are only certain times when God does miracles.

a. The Historical Pattern

1) Christ's Revelation

Jesus lived thirty-three years, yet for thirty of those years He did not do one, single miracle. Now, there are some apocryphal writings that say when He was little, He became angry with an evil child and killed him with a word. It has also been said in apocryphal writings that when He was little He made clay pigeons, then blew on them, and they flew away. Others have said that He made things instantly for His father to help him in his business. That isn't so. Jesus never did a single miracle for the first thirty years of His life.

You say, "How do you know that?" When Jesus turned water into wine, John 2:11 says, "This beginning of miracles did Jesus in Cana, of Galilee...." You say, "What does that prove?" It proves that not all ages, times, and periods are intended by God for miracles, only those times when God wants to reveal Himself. And Jesus never revealed Himself until He began His ministry after His baptism. The miracles lasted for the duration of His three-year ministry. Jesus never did a single miracle before the hour of His revelation as God.

2) God's Revelation

Not all ages are miracle ages. If you study the Old Testament, there really are only two periods of miracles: One, the revealing of the law to Moses; and two, the lives of Elijah and Elisha when God was laying down the platform of prophetic revelation through His prophets. The rest of the Old Testament contains very few references of use of miracles, and none at the end of the Old Testament. Miracles have not been occurring all the time since the first one. And the reason is that God had a specific word to reveal, with limits and boundaries. When God was revealing either His written Word or Christ, His living Word, it was then and only then that He used miracles as a corroborating and confirming sign.

b. The Present Pattern

We must still allow for God to do a miracle, never confining Him, but that is not the norm or pattern. Some Christians today think miracles are the norm. There is no end to their appearance on some of the television programs. In fact, there are so many efforts at healing that none of them mean anything. There just is no evidence that those healings are legitimate.

God has designed miracles for a single purpose -- to confirm His revelation. Once God has revealed Himself, then the miracles have no continuing purpose. For example, when God finished revealing Himself in the Old Testament, that period was closed. In the four-hundred-year period of history between the Old and New Testaments, God gave no revelation, and certainly nothing miraculous. Then, in the New Testament, miracles occurred again. Now the New Testament is finished, the Book is closed, and there are no more miracles.

2. The Limited Persons

a. The Demonstrators

1) Jesus

Jesus did miracles to convince people that He was of God and the fact that He was God. Matthew 13:54 says that He did mighty works. Verse 58 says, "And He did not many mighty works there because of their unbelief." Jesus did miracles to convince people that He was God, but only those people who already were open to believing -- people in whom the Father had already generated faith. And He didn't convince many people, only those who were ready and prepared (cf. Jn. 20:30). So, the miracles were confirming signs. God has never used miracles to save people; He has always saved people with the preaching of the gospel. Once the evidence was complete that Jesus was God, Christ finished His work, the Apostles wrote it down, and then you find the gift fading away.

2) Apostles and Prophets

Jesus not only had the ability to do miracles, but so did the Apostles and prophets -- the New Testament writers, the ones who were the heartbeat of the early church. Since there was no written word to corroborate their preaching, God gave them miraculous abilities. And God gave them these abilities because there was no other way for God to prove to people that these men were the only ones speaking the truth among the myriad of people speaking in that part of the world. Today, if someone says that he is a prophet of God, we don't need him to do a miracle, we just compare him with the Bible -- the confirming Word. But in those days there was no standard and no revealed written Word, so miracles were the attestation.

Miracles, then, were given to authenticate the living Word and the written Word. They belonged to just two categories: Christ, and the Apostles and those that worked with the Apostles in the foundations of the church. Those are the only two groups that ever did miracles in the life of the church.

b. The Demonstration

1) Acts 14:2-3 -- "But the unbelieving Jews stirred up the Gentiles, and made their minds evil affected against the brethren. A long time, therefore, abode they speaking boldly in the Lord, who gave testimony unto the word of His grace...." How did God give testimony to the Word? Here were these people preaching the Word -- people who had touched the lives of the Apostles, who were foundational in the early church, and who were on the cutting edge of laying out the foundations. "...and granted signs and wonders to be done by their hands." God confirmed His Word in the early church by miracles, signs, and wonders.

After the Spirit has come in the New Testament church age, the only people that we ever know of who were able to do miracles were either the Apostles or those whom the Apostles personally commissioned. Miracles never extended any further.

2) 2 Corinthians 12:12 -- "Truly the signs of an apostle were wrought among you in all patience, in signs, and wonders, and mighty deeds." What were the signs of an Apostle? The ability to do signs, and wonders, and mighty deeds. You say, "What were those miracle powers?" They were the signs of an especially sent one -- the Twelve, and a few of the other New Testament apostles.

3) Hebrews 2:3-4 -- "How shall we escape, if we neglect so great salvation, which at the first began to be spoken by the Lord, and was confirmed unto us by them that heard Him" (v. 3). Who was it that heard the Lord? The Apostles. Verse 4 is the key: "God also bearing them witness, both with signs and wonders, and with diverse miracles and gifts of the Holy Spirit, according to His own will?" They had special gifts of the Spirit -- special miracle powers to confirm the Word.

If someone said, "I speak the gospel of God," and another said, "Well, how do I know it's true?" and then wonders and signs appear that have no other explanation, then I agree that God is behind him. Today the same thing is accomplished when someone's preaching is compared to the Word of God, which has proved itself to be just what it claims. That is verification enough. B.B. Warfield says, "These miraculous gifts were part of the credentials of the Apostles as the authoritative agents of God in founding the church. Their function thus confined them to distinctively the Apostolic Church and they necessarily passed away with it." So, these marvelous abilities to confirm the Word occurred only when God was revealing the Word.

3. The Limited Purpose

a. Revelation Is Complete

If we say that miracles continue to occur today, and that their only purpose is to confirm God's revelation, then God is still revealing His Word. If He is still revealing His Word, your Bible is incomplete, and Revelation 22:18 is a lie: "...If any man shall add unto these things, God shall add unto him the plagues that are written in this book." So, when people, particularly Charismatic people, say that miracles are still occurring, they will also say that God is still revealing Himself today. And supposedly many of them receive visions, revelations, and words from God. Even they recognize that miracles are a corroboration of God's revelation. But if we believe that the Word of God is complete and closed and that revelation has ceased, then there is no reason for a continuing, normal flow of miracles. It is clear from the Gospels through Acts that there is a progressive lessening of miracles. By the time of Paul's epistles, miracles are gone. People become sick in Paul's epistles, and they stay sick...including Paul. Once the revelation and the Bible were finished, the purpose for miracles was finished.

b. Revelation Is Convincing

You say, "But what if people won't believe the Bible?" Then they won't believe in miracles because the Bible is full of miracles that can be historically verified. Jesus said, "Woe unto thee, Chorazin!...And thou Capernaum...for if the mighty works, which have been done in thee, had been done in Sodom, it would have remained until this day. But I say unto you, That it shall be more tolerable for the land of Sodom in the day of judgment, than for thee" (Mt. 11:21a, 23-24). He is saying, "You don't need any more miracles. There have been enough in the past to be convincing. It is not a question of miracles, it is a question of your own unbelief." I say the same thing. People don't need miracles today, they just need to understand the Word of God. If they won't believe the Word of God, they won't believe miracles either. In the story of the rich man and Lazarus, the rich man says, "Nay, father Abraham; but if one went unto them [his brothers] from the dead, they will repent. And he said unto him, If they hear not Moses and the prophets, neither will they be persuaded, though one rose from the dead" (Lk. 16:30-31). And Jesus did, and still many didn't believe.

So, miracles had a limited time, only for the early era; limited persons, only the Apostles and prophets and early New Testament preachers; and a limited purpose, only for the confirmation of revelation. They were signposts pointing to God's revelation, first in the living Word and then in the written Word. Now that the reality is here, we don't need the sign anymore. It is the same as the difference between a picture and a person. For example, maybe you sent your son to college or he moved away. You have his picture as a reminder of him. But when your son comes home, you don't stand around looking at his picture, you enjoy your son. We don't need to look at the signs anymore, we have the Bible right here.

To allow for miracles causes all kinds of problems because that allows for continuing revelation. If there is continuing revelation, then all sorts of people today are claiming miracles. How do we separate the claims? It was easy in the New Testament: It was either Christ, or His Apostles, or those working with the Apostles. Richard Baxter says, "Since the primary purpose for which miracles were performed in biblical times is no longer operative, it is reasonable to believe that miracles performed through the agency of man, as in Bible times, no longer are to be seen on earth today." And I agree.

Now remember, we are not trying to say God can't do miracles, we are only saying that God did some miracles at certain periods of time strictly to confirm His Word -- strictly as sign gifts for a period of confirmation. They have no place in the ongoing life of the church.

Now, four of these gifts are mentioned in the New Testament: miracles, healings, languages, and the interpretation of languages. They only appear in the list in 1 Corinthians 12. In the other lists, Romans 12, Ephesians 4, and 1 Peter 4, there is never a discussion of these miracle gifts. They only had a purpose in the infancy of the church. We have discussed the overall category of supernatural ability given to those early men as well as Christ; now, what about the specific gift of miracles?

I. MIRACLES (1 Cor. 12:10)

A. The Power of Miracles

Verse 10 calls the gift "the working of miracles." The word "miracles" is the Greek word dunamis, which means "power." That is the way I would translate it. This is the gift of power -- supernatural, special power. It is translated in the New Testament as "power, mighty deeds, strength, and miracles." According to Kittel (Theological Dictionary of the New Testament) the root in the Greek means "being able" to do something. It is referring to an ability, a power, an energy.

B. The Practice of Miracles

This word is used 120 times in the New Testament. The verb is used over one hundred times. It is a very common word. Remember this: the word that is translated miracle in 1 Corinthians 12 is the exact same word translated power throughout the Gospels. For example:

1. By Christ

a. Luke 4:13-14 -- This is the point at which Jesus began His ministry: "And when the devil had ended all the testing, he departed from Him for a season" (v. 13). Jesus has just been in conflict with Satan, and Christ has come out the victor. When the devil had ended all the testing, he departed from Him for only a little while. The entire life of Jesus was a day-by-day fight with Satan because He was invading the kingdom of darkness and rescuing people.

Verse 14 continues: "And Jesus returned in the power of the Spirit into Galilee...." When the devil had ended all the testing, he departed from Him for a season. What was it that allowed Jesus to be victorious over Satan? The power of the Spirit. Notice that the concept of power is connected with a struggle against Satan. Power, as it is often used in the Gospels, is seen in reference to Christ's conflict with Satan's kingdom.

b. Luke 4:36 -- In verse 35, Jesus rebukes a demon who has taken over a man, and casts him out. Then verse 36 says, "And they were all amazed, and spoke among themselves, saying, What a word is this! For with authority [Gk. exousia] and power [Gk. dunamis] He commandeth the unclean spirits, and they come out." Power is the controlling sock that Christ has on the kingdom of Satan.

c. Luke 6:17-19 -- "And He came down with them, and stood in the plain, and the company of His disciples, and a great multitude of people out of all Judea and Jerusalem, and from the seacoast of Tyre and Sidon, who came to hear Him, and to be healed of their diseases, and they that were vexed with unclean spirits; and they were healed. And the whole multitude sought to touch Him; for there went power out of Him, and healed them all." Power is connected with dealing with the kingdom of darkness.

d. Mark 1:34 -- "And He healed many that were sick of diverse diseases, and cast out many demons; and permitted not the demons to speak, because they knew Him." The demons couldn't even speak. Verse 39 says that He preached and cast out demons. Notice that His amazing ability to cast out demons is connected with His preaching because the gift of miracles is connected to the revelation of God.

In Mark 5 the same thing is found: Jesus exercising great power casting demons out of a demoniac (a demon-possessed man who became a maniac). In Mark 7:24-30 there is another casting out of demons (cf. Mt. 9:31-33; 12:22-23).

e. Luke 9:42-43 -- "And as He was coming [a father is bringing his child to Jesus], the demon threw him down, and tore him. And Jesus rebuked the unclean spirit, and healed the child, and delivered him again to his father. And they were all astonished at the mighty power of God...." Power is again connected with conflict and victory over Satan's kingdom.

You say, "What are you getting at?" I believe the gift of powers (or miracles) was primarily the supernatural and instantaneous ability to cast out demons. It may have had broader application, and I would not limit it as I would not limit any of the gifts and their varieties as indicated in 1 Corinthians 12, but the primary use of the gift of powers by Christ was in showing that the Kingdom of God ruled the kingdom of darkness. That instantaneous ability to cast Satan out was saying to the world: "Why would you be a part of that kingdom, which I control, when I offer you My Kingdom?"

f. Matthew 8:16 -- "When the evening was come, they brought unto Him many that were possessed with demons; and He cast out the spirits with His word, and healed all that were sick." I don't know anyone who can do that today. Would-be Christian exorcists go through long sweaty hours of trying to get rid of demons, but that is not the apostolic gift of powers or miracles. With a single word Jesus cast out the demons and healed all that were sick. There are the two gifts: powers and healing. Jesus could handle demon- induced, physically-induced, and congenitally-induced illnesses. I feel that the gift of miracles dealt with demonic influence, and the gift of healing with physical problems. This seems to be the intentions of these two gifts, although there is some overlap. The gift of miracles could extend beyond demon-induced problems, but this seems to be its primary function.

2. By the Apostles

You say, "Well, that's fine for Jesus, but what about the Apostles? Is that the same gift they had?"

a. Luke 9:1 -- "Then He called His twelve disciples together, and gave them power and authority over all demons, and to cure diseases." Miracles are related to the demons, healing is related to diseases. Verse 2 says, "And He sent them to preach the kingdom of God...." Why? These miracles were to confirm their preaching. It does no good to heal people if that healing is not corroborating the message from God.

b. Luke 10:17-19 -- The personal commission of Jesus extended beyond the Twelve to the Seventy: "And the seventy returned again with joy, saying, Lord, even the demons are subject unto us through Thy name." They had never seen this before. This was not a normal thing, and it is not one now. Verse 18 continues: "And He said unto them, I beheld Satan as lightning fall from heaven. Behold, I give unto you power to tread on serpents and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy; and nothing shall by any means hurt you." In other words, "Satan may want to use poison, he may want to use serpents, but I give you power over the kingdom of darkness." The gift of powers is the ability to call down Satan.

c. Romans 15:19 -- "Through mighty signs and wonders, by the power of the Spirit of God [Gk. en dunamei pneumatos = `in the dynamite of the Spirit'] "...I have fully preached the gospel of Christ." Paul had the gift of powers, or miracles -- the ability to deal with Satan and cast out demons.

Now, this ability belonged to Christ, the Apostles, and the few that were touched by their lives. The book of Acts is full of examples of the Apostles having the ability to do this. The demons had to respond; they didn't have any choice. For example, in Acts 6:8: "And Stephen, full of faith and power, did great wonders and miracles among the people." What does this mean? It means that he showed himself more powerful in the Kingdom of God than the kingdom of Satan was. In Acts 8:7 unclean spirits leave Philip's ministry. The Apostles had the ability to deal with the kingdom of Satan, and it confirmed that they were of God (Ac. 13:6-13; 19:11-12).

How do you eliminate demons?

You say, "If that gift doesn't exist anymore, how do you get rid of demons? How does an unsaved person get rid of demons?" The Bible says to receive Jesus Christ (Jn. 1:12). How does a Christian eliminate the external influence of demons on his life? The Bible says we ought to minister to each other, reprove one another, rebuke one another, love one another, teach one another, edify one another, and pray for one another (Gal. 5:13; 2 Tim. 4:2; Rom. 13:8; Col. 3:16; 1 Thess. 5:11; Js. 5:16). It doesn't say to cast demons from one another. All of the instruction in the New Testament is very clear. You have to deal with that problem alone, but with the power of the Holy Spirit. The Bible is very explicit on how to deal with the devil. For example:

1. James 4:7 -- "...Resist the devil, and he will flee from you."

2. Ephesians 6:11 -- "Put on the whole armor of God...."

3. 2 Corinthians 2:11 -- We are not to be ignorant of Satan's devices that will give him an advantage.

4. 1 Peter 5:8-9 -- "...the devil, like a roaring lion walketh about, seeking whom he may devour; whom resist steadfast...."

5. 2 Timothy 2:22, 26 -- Live a pure life so he doesn't have any way to invade you.

This is all personal instruction. Jesus and those early Apostles had the power to cast out demons, instantly and completely, and other wonders to confirm the revelation. We don't find any reference to that for today because it is not needed by Christians. There is no reference in the entire New Testament Epistles to having a Christian cast demons from another Christian. According to Romans 16:20, the believer has Satan under his feet. All you have to do in order to deal with the devil is put on the armor of God (Eph. 6:11).

Even America's supposed number one demon exorcist says that even he has problems and some of them won't leave. Then he doesn't have the gift. Do you think that if Jesus cast them out they wouldn't leave? Of course they would.

How will people believe without miracles?

People say, "Well, if you don't allow for miracles, how will people believe?" Miracles have never been the issue for people believing.

* Jesus fed thousands of people on a hillside and did miracles all day long. Then they followed Him to the other side of the Sea of Galilee. He said to them, "You didn't come here because of who I am or what I did, you came here because you want more food" (Jn. 6:26).

* Jesus rose Lazarus from the dead, but the Jews got mad and killed Jesus over it.

* In Acts 14:8-11, Paul healed a crippled and impotent man. But in verse 19 a little group got together and persuaded the people to stone him. They did and threw him out of the city, presuming he was dead. That is how great of an effect he had.

Miracles never were the reason people were saved. People are saved because God gives them faith in their hearts. The Apostles never evangelized through miracles, they evangelized through the preaching of the Word. The miracles only confirmed the Word. Once the Word was finished, the miracles had no reason for existing.

Incidentally, miracles will appear once more in the future when all the Christians are gone and the world is void of any witness. Then the two witnesses will appear with miraculous ability (Rev. 11:3-6). In the meantime, miracles have not occurred since around A.D. 100 as the norm in the life of the church. God is not revealing His Word anymore. All Scripture is inspired by God, and it is complete, that the man of God may be thoroughly furnished (2 Tim. 3:16a, 17a).

The Amazing Miraculous Claims

You say, "But what about all of these miracles that people claim?" I don't have to answer that question because I can show from the Word of God that this is not a miracle age. But you say that there have been miracles throughout history. Interestingly enough, for years after the New Testament church was established no miracles appeared until the beginning of Roman Catholicism. All of a sudden miracles started occurring. The only conclusion we can reach if we believe in miracles is that God was confirming the fact that the Roman Church was His true church, and that this was His new revelation.

You say, "What were the miracles?" They were really amazing miracles. For example:

* In 415 the bones of Stephen were found. The bones were moved to Africa, and everywhere they went, miracles happened. Do you believe that? They must have been hardy bones to last hundreds of years after Stephen died.

* A merchant in one town stole the arm of John the Baptist, which had been preserved in a shrine. As long as he kept it in his closet, he became rich; but when somebody found it and took it away, he became a beggar.

* In the early years of the forming of the Roman Church, Christians preserved feather droppings that supposedly came from the wings of Gabriel when he came to announce the birth of Jesus to Mary.

* Pilgrim monks boasted that they had been to Jerusalem and seen the real finger of the Holy Spirit.

* The churches of the saints Cosmas and Damien at Rome exhibited a miracle-working vial of the breast milk of the virgin Mary. This became such a popular miracle worker that many churches in France had bottles of Mary's breast milk to do miracles. They even said that this wasn't necessarily the milk which the virgin used to nourish the infant, but that she, through all the ages, had continued to nourish her children in times of deadly need. Even her statues and paintings would give milk at certain times to certain saints.

* Bernard of Clairvaux said that he was rewarded for his holy life by Mary visiting him in his cell and letting his lips be moistened by the food of the heavenly child.

* Many people have stigmatizations -- the signs of the cross showing up in their hands and feet and bleeding, much like St. Francis claimed.

* One saint, Pantaleon, had drunk so much of Mary's milk in his life that when he died they cut him open and out of his veins came blood and milk. They caught it in a vial, and the blood and milk would switch places each year. When the blood was on top, the country had a bad year; and when the milk was on top, it had a good year.

* Supposed apparitions of Mary have occurred all over the world at places like Guadeloupe and Lourdes. There are great shrines of Mary everywhere.

Was God confirming Roman Catholicism by all of these ridiculous things? What about today when they tell us that in Indonesia God made porridge for many people at a party? I read things like that and I can't believe my ears. 

The evangelical church from the post-New Testament era on has to operate this way: We are to walk by faith and not by sight (2 Cor. 5:7). People who want more and more miracles give evidence of the most infantile faith. Sure, the counterfeit miracles continue. There are so many counterfeits that if God did do something miraculous, it would be hard to separate from all the mess.

The gift of miracles had a unique purpose: To confirm the revelation of God. Beloved, the revelation is finished. And just as there was no reason for miracles during the first thirty years of Jesus' life, there is no reason to assume that miracles have to continue on and on. People who say, "Oh, we have faith in miracles," don't have faith, they have doubt looking for proof.

Focusing on the Facts

1. What is the greatest miracle that God accomplishes every day? 

2. What is a miracle? 

3. Why did Jesus do miracles? What is the intention of miracles? Support your answer with Scripture. 

4. What is the one purpose for the appearance of miracles in Scripture? 

5. When did Jesus accomplish His first miracle? Why is this significant? 

6. Why are not all ages miracle ages? What is God's purpose in the miracle ages? 

7. Why do miracles have no continuing purpose? 

8. Who did Jesus accomplish His miracles for? 

9. How does God save people? What part do miracles play in salvation? 

10. Why did the Apostles and prophets have the ability to do miracles, in addition to Jesus? Give some examples of their miraculous ability. 

11. Why is it wrong to say that a continuing, normal flow of miracles occur today, given that their purpose is to confirm God's revelation? 

12. As far as belief in God is concerned, people don't need miracles. What do they need? 

13. What are the three limitations that are imposed on miracles? 

14. What is the best way to translate miracle? What does the root word mean in the Greek? 

15. What is the concept of power connected with in many verses of the Gospels? Support your answer with some Scripture. 

16. What was the primary purpose of the gift of powers as used by Christ? 

17. What is the basic difference between the gift of miracles and the gift of healing? 

18. Did the Apostles have the same gift as Jesus? Use Scripture to support your answer. 

19. How should Christians deal with the devil? Support your answer. 

20. What was the typical response that people had to miracles in the New Testament? What kind of effect do miracles have on salvation? How are people saved? 

21. How does the evangelical church need to operate? 

Pondering the Principles

1. According to Acts 2:22, Jesus was "a man approved of God...by miracles and wonders and signs, which God did by Him." Look up the following verses: Matthew 14:14-21; 15:31; John 2:1-11; 3:2; 5:5- 9; 9:1-7. What were the things that Jesus either created or re-created? What was Nicodemus's response to what Jesus did? Is your response the same? What are the differences that you see in the miracles of Christ, as opposed to the miraculous claims that people make today? As a result, what should be your response to the miraculous claims made today?

2. Is God able to do miracles today? If so, how does He accomplish them? Does He still use human instruments to accomplish them? In other words, do some still possess the gift of miracles? How would you respond to someone who says that God still uses human instruments to produce miracles? What are some of the verses you would use to prove your point?  In order to be ready and able to give a defense of the hope that is in you (1 Pet. 3:15), take this time to prepare your defense of this issue. Ask God to give you the wisdom and discernment to set forth the proper defense.

3. How would you answer those who feel that miracles are important because they will help people to believe in God? Look up the following verses: Matthew 5:18; John 17:17; 1 Corinthians 2:7-14; 1 Thessalonians 2:13; 2 Timothy 3:16-17; Hebrews 4:12; 2 Peter 1:20-21. What do these verses teach about the Word of God? Make a list. Now read Romans 10:17. Based on these verses, how is a person able to come to saving faith in Jesus Christ? What do you think would be the result if a specially appointed man of God were to arrive in the world today and do many signs and wonders that pointed to God? Would the reaction of the people be any different than it was in John 6:26 or Acts 14:8-11, 19? What is it that truly will help to bring a person to have faith in God?