Should we routinely be performing miracles today like Jesus
did? Some “word of faith” (WOF) preachers claim that we should. Do they have a
Scriptural basis for this? They cite:
·
“Truly, truly, I say to you, whoever [of you
Apostles?] believes in me will also do the works that I do; and greater works
than these will he do, because I am going to the Father.” (John 14:12; ESV)
Well, why aren’t we performing “greater works” today? The
WOF preachers claim that we just don’t believe the promises of Jesus – a
serious indictment.
However, there are many reasons to conclude that Jesus’
promise was extended only to His Apostles. Elsewhere, He promised that it was
only the Apostles, those who had been with Him from the beginning, who would be
supernaturally equipped by the Spirit to carry forth His Word:
·
But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father
will send in my name, he will teach you all things and bring to your
remembrance all that I have said to you. (John 14:26)
“Bring all things to your remembrance” could only refer to
those who had been with Him. Likewise, “teach you all things!” If this promise
only has an application to the Apostles,
Perhaps also John 14:12?
Paul too had been designated as an Apostle. How could the
Church know this? Only through “signs and wonders”:
·
For I was not at all inferior to these
super-apostles, even though I am nothing. The signs of a true apostle were
performed among you with utmost patience, with signs and wonders and
mighty works. (2 Corinthians 12:11-12)
If all Christians were expected to produce signs and
wonders, he would have had no way to prove to the Church that He had been
called to be an Apostle. Instead, Paul had taught that not everyone was given this
supernatural gift.
It was the Apostles alone who would perform “signs and
wonders”:
·
And awe came upon every soul, and many wonders
and signs were being done through the apostles. (Acts 2:43; 4:33)
In this way, God had established the fact that the Apostles
were His ordained ones to spread His teachings. Consequently, after the
Apostles had heard that the Samaritans had come to faith, they sent Peter and
John to lay hands for them to receive the Holy Spirit (Acts 8:14-15).
For the early church, there was no guess-work regarding who
bore the Gospel of Jesus. Had all believers been performing miracles, there
would have been lots of confusion:
·
And God was doing extraordinary
miracles by the hands of Paul, so that even handkerchiefs or aprons that
had touched his skin were carried away to the sick, and their diseases left
them and the evil spirits came out of them. (Acts 19:11-12)
·
So they remained for a long time, speaking
boldly for the Lord, who bore witness to the word of his grace, granting signs
and wonders to be done by their [Barnabas and Paul] hands. (Acts 14:3)
·
And when Peter saw it he addressed the people:
“Men of Israel, why do you wonder at this, or why do you stare at us, as though
by our own power or piety we have made him walk?" (Acts 3:12)
God sent miracles to prove that it was the Apostles who had
been commissioned to carry His Word:
·
Now we [Apostles] have received not the spirit of the
world, but the Spirit who is from God, that we might understand the things
freely given us by God. And we [Apostles] impart this in words not taught by human wisdom
but taught by the Spirit, interpreting spiritual truths to those who are
spiritual. (1 Corinthians 2:12-13)
·
For since the message declared by angels proved
to be reliable, and every transgression or disobedience received a just
retribution, how shall we escape if we neglect such a great salvation? It was
declared at first by the Lord, and it was attested to us by those who heard,
while God also bore witness by signs and wonders and various miracles
and by gifts of the Holy Spirit distributed according to his will. (Hebrews 2:2-4)
·
So then, brothers, stand firm and hold to the
traditions that you were taught by us [Apostles], either by our spoken word or
by our letter. (2 Thessalonians 2:15)
·
When you read this, you can perceive my insight
into the mystery of Christ, which was not made known to the sons of men in
other generations as it has now been revealed to his holy apostles and
prophets by the Spirit. (Ephesians 3:4-5; 2:19-20))
·
And we also thank God constantly for this, that
when you received the word of God, which you heard from us, you accepted it not
as the word of men but as what it really is, the word of God, which is at work
in you believers. (1 Thessalonians 2:13)
·
For I will not venture to speak of anything
except what Christ has accomplished through me to bring the Gentiles to
obedience—by word and deed, by the power of signs and wonders, by the
power of the Spirit of God—so that from Jerusalem and all the way around to
Illyricum I have fulfilled the ministry of the gospel of Christ; (Romans 15:18-19)
Against this WOF idea that we should all be performing
miracles if we believe Jesus, it seems that instead, our Lord has purposed for us
a miracle-lean diet. This leanness compels us to walk by faith instead of a
constant flow of miracles:
·
For in this hope we were saved. Now hope that is
seen is not hope. For who hopes for what he sees? But if we hope for what we do
not see, we wait for it with patience. (Romans 8:24-25)
·
For we walk by faith, not by sight. (2
Corinthians 5:7)
Instead of relying upon a miracles-rich diet, our Lord wants
us to live by faith, the unseen, and to even persevere in suffering:
·
Always carrying in the body the death of Jesus,
so that the life of Jesus may also be manifested in our bodies. For we who live
are always being given over to death for Jesus’ sake, so that the life of Jesus
also may be manifested in our mortal flesh. (2 Corinthians 4:10-11)
To walk in perpetual miraculous healings is not to “Always
carry in the body the death of Jesus.” Perpetual miracles would make us
spiritually lazy. We would not learn patience, faith, or how to meditate on the
Word day and night.
I have attended numerous WOF churches without seeing the
lame walk, the blind see, or the dead raised. Perhaps these are intended only as
a rarity among us today.
I too do not want to miss anything my Savior might have for
me. I also admit that I do not know what to pray for. However, He assures me
that, even if I don’t know, His Holy Spirit does, and He is intervening for us
(Romans 8:26).
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