The Effecting of Miracles
12: 10a
The effecting of miracles was also a temporary sign gift. It refers to God’s power in mighty deeds. A miracle is a supernatural intrusion into the natural world and its natural laws, explainable only by divine intervention. ADONAI often leads us, or warns us by working through other believers, through ordinary circumstances, or through natural laws. These are supernatural workings of providence by God, but they are not miracles. A miracle is an act of God that is contrary to the ordinary working and laws of nature, an act that only He could accomplish by overruling nature, and that could not otherwise occur through any normal circumstances.
John tells us that Messiah’s turning water into wine was the first of Yeshua’s miraculous signs that He did in Cana of Galilee; He revealed His glory, and His apostles came to believe in Him (John 2:11). That was the purpose. The miracle was not to improve the party or to show off great power to the curious. Even with Yeshua, the working of miracles, just as the working of healing (to see link click Cn – The Gifts of Healing), was confirmation of His coming as the long awaited Messiah. Near the end of his gospel, John says: In the presence of the talmidim Yeshua performed many other miracles which have not been recorded in this book. But these have been recorded here so that you may trust that Yeshua is the Messiah, the Son of God, and that by this trust you may have [eternal] life because of who He is (John 20:30-31). Yeshua performed miracles to prove that ADONAI was being revealed in Him. At Shavu’ot, Peter told the crowd to whom he was preaching: Men of Isra’el! Listen to this! Yeshua of Nazareth was a man demonstrated to you to have been from God by the powerful works, miracles and signs that God performed through Him in your presence. You yourselves know this (Acts 2:22).
Yeshua performed miracles and healed the sick for only about three-and-a half years of His ministry. Contrary to certain myths and legends that have cropped up through the centuries, the Bible indicates that Yeshua lived a quiet, normal life as a child and as a young man, exercising absolutely no supernatural powers until the wedding at Cana. As is clear from the quotation from John 2:11 above, Yeshua’s miracles began when His ministry began.
The apostles and a few other early leaders in the Messianic Community also performed miracles as confirming signs of the gospel message. In Iconium Paul and Barnabas remained for a long time, speaking boldly about the Lord, who bore witness to the message about His love and kindness enabling them to perform signs and miracles (Acts 14:3). Paul later wrote to the Corinthians, “For the signs of the apostle were performed among you in all perseverance, and in signs, and wonders, and miracles” (Second Corinthians 12:12 BLB). Miraculous signs were the mark of an apostle, authenticating the apostles’ message and work as being of the Lord. In Hebrews we read: The Good News was first declared by the Lord, was confirmed to us by those who heard him; while God also bore witness to it with various signs, wonders and miracles, and with gifts of the Ruach Ha’Kodesh which he distributed as He chose (Hebrews 2:3-4). The apostles performed miracles just like Yeshua did (see Acts Ap – Peter Heals a Lame Beggar: A Closer Look at Miracles in Acts). But even the miracles in Acts were not normative that time. They were highly unusual and only used to authenticate the message of the apostles. The early church was not a miracle working church, it had miracle working apostles. Once the apostles passed away, those authenticating miracles were no longer needed because God’s Word and the Church had been established.
But just what kind of miracles did the apostles do? Yeshua made wine, made food, walked on water with Peter, took a coin from the mouth of a fish, disappeared from a hostile crowd, and ascended into heaven in a cloud. All those miracles related to nature and done only by Him. No apostle is ever reported to have done a miracle of nature. Then, what miracles did they do? The answer is in the word for miracle (Greek: dunamis, meaning power). In fact, the term is translated power in the gospels, and is frequently connected with the casting out of demons (Lk 4:36, 6:18, 9:42). It is precisely that power, to cast out demons, that the Lord gave to the Twelve and to the seventy (Lk 9:1, 10:17-19). We have no such power today by which someone can successfully go about commanding demons to come out of unsaved people, as the apostles and the seventy did. Philip and Stephen demonstrated the effecting of miracles (Acts 6:8, 8:7). Paul used it to confirm the hand of the Lord and bring a man to faith (Acts 13:6-12). Some Jews who tried to cast out demons without the true gift were beaten up and chased out by the demons they were trying to exorcise (Acts 19:14-16).
Those miracles accompanied God’s Word only so long as He was revealing the Word. When the revelation stopped, the sign gifts stopped. B. B. Warfield (1851-1921), the great biblical theologian wrote, “These miraculous gifts were part of the credentials of the apostles, as authoritative agents of God in founding the Church. Their function confined them distinctly to the apostolic Church, and they necessarily passed away with it.”372 Nothing in Scripture indicates that the miracles of the apostolic age were meant to be continuous in subsequent ages. Nor the Bible exhort believers to seek any miraculous manifestations of the Ruach Ha’Kodesh. In all the B’rit Chadashah there are only five commands relating to the believer and the Spirit.
Walk by the Spirit (Galatians 5:25)
Do not grieve the Spirit (Ephesians 4:30)
Be filled with the Spirit (Ephesians 5:18)
Do not quench the Spirit (First Thessalonians 5:19)
Pray in the Spirit (Jude 20)
Dear Heavenly Father, Praise You for Your wisdom and great love, bearing our sin so we could have Your righteousness (Second Corinthians 5:21), and also caring so lovingly for the Church that was birthed from Messiah’s resurrection. Thank You for providing different gifts used for building up the body of Messiah, as each individual part produces the body’s growth, for building itself up in love (Ephesians 4:12 and 16c).
Your presence in each of Your children (Romans 8:9-10) is so helpful to guide each of Your children how they should live for you, including how to use their gift for You. Your presence also gives strength to conquer temptations and is comforting in times of trial. For I consider the sufferings of this present time not worthy to be compared with the coming glory to be revealed to us (Romans 8:18). How wonderful that we have a sure hope in heaven where our trials will all be past and we will praise You for all eternity! Thank You for being such a loving and caring Father, In Yeshua’s holy name and power of His resurrection. Amen
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