SPIRITUAL GIFTS – Part Nine

The Sign Gifts – Part A

Miracles and Healings

By Michael K. Farrar

God’s Breath Publications

 

During special times in Biblical history we see God intervene in miraculous ways to accomplish His divine will as well as to verify the ministry of men and women He uses for His divine plan.

 

In the Old Testament we see how God used the miraculous ten plagues of Egypt to rescue His Chosen People from slavery in Egypt. He continued this miraculous provision by manifesting His Spirit in the form of a fire by night and a cloud by day as well as the parting of the Red Sea. Accounts of these miracles are written in the Old Testament books and referenced by Luke in the book of Acts.

 

Acts 7:35-36

“This Moses whom they disowned, saying, ‘WHO MADE YOU A RULER AND A JUDGE?’ is the one whom God sent to be both a ruler and a deliverer with the help of the angel who appeared to him in the thorn bush. “This man led them out, performing wonders and signs in the land of Egypt and in the Red Sea and in the wilderness for forty years.”

 

Below is a chart from Richard C. Schwab’s book, “Let the Bible Speak…About Tongues.” It illustrates the time periods in Biblical history where God intervened through signs, miracles and wonders. Dramatic and continuous miracles took place during specific limited periods of time that were focused on special interventions of God’s power to accomplish His divine will. Regarding these outbreaks of miracles Richard C. Schwab states, “In each major outbreak, miracles were needed to prove that these men were from God. Once their work was accomplished the continuous miracles ceased. Scattered miracles for specific purposes occurred, but it was not God’s normal operation.” He goes on to say, “Yes, God performs miracles today, but not as the norm.”

 

We see God intervene with miracles and spiritual manifestations to impact and impress upon people that He was the Lord God as He worked through the Biblical leaders such as Moses and prophets such as Elijah and Elisha in the Old Testament. But this is not the norm for how our Heavenly Father seeks to fulfill His divine plan on a regular basis. Often there are hundreds of years between such types of miracles and heavenly interventions. This fact does not mean that God does not seek to intervene in our lives at times with miracles and healings as we pray for Him to answer our prayers. We must understand that miraculous acts of God are displayed not on a continual basis throughout history, but in limited periods of time at His holy discretion.

 

History and Holy Scripture tells us that signs, miracles, and wonders were desired by Israel. Jews always “required signs” (1 Corinthians 1:22). Very likely Jews required signs to believe because they were in essence signs themselves to the world of God’s providence and salvation (Isaiah 8:18). It is very likely that the nation of Israel had experienced so many miraculous signs and wonders from God that they expected signs and wonders as normative proof for God’s handiwork and divine will. John the Apostle quotes Jesus in John 4:48 stating, “Except ye [Israel] see signs and wonders, ye will not believe.” Miracles first appear to the Jews in Exodus 4:1-9. God gave Moses the ability to heal sickness and handle snakes (his wooden staff that changed into a snake) in order to teach Israel that he was God’s servant to deliver them from Egypt. Verses 30 and 31 of Exodus 4 states that once Israel saw these signs they believed (John 4:48).

 

Jesus performed many miracles during His earthly ministry to prove to Israel that He was God’s servant and their Messiah-King. He wished to help them understand He was the same God whom their ancestors had served and worshipped. God wished to save all peoples so opened salvation to the Gentiles and began ministering to them through signs and wonders as well. This verified the Apostles ministry but also taught Israel that God was now working amongst the Gentiles (Romans 11:11, 12; 1 Corinthians 14:21, 22). In 70A.D. when the temple was destroyed by the Romans and Israel’s sacrificial program ceased, these New Testament miracles faded. It is noticed in scripture that at the close of Paul’s ministry, he could no longer heal (1 Timothy 5:23; 2 Timothy 4:20).

 

In the first century as the New Testament was being lived out and written we see that God distributed special spiritual gifts to validate the apostles and establish Christ’s church on the earth.

 

Hebrews 2:1-4

“For this reason we must pay much closer attention to what we have heard, so that we do not drift away from it. For if the word spoken through angels proved unalterable, and every transgression and disobedience received a just penalty, how will we escape if we neglect so great a salvation? After it was at the first spoken through the Lord, it was confirmed to us by those who heard, God also testifying with them, both by signs and wonders and by various miracles and by gifts of the Holy Spirit according to His own will.”

 

We see further evidence of this in the account of Jesus interacting with His disciples after his resurrection.

 

Mark 16:14-20

“Afterward He appeared to the eleven themselves as they were reclining at the table; and He reproached them for their unbelief and hardness of heart, because they had not believed those who had seen Him after He had risen. And He said to them, “Go into all the world and preach the gospel to all creation…”These signs will accompany those who have believed: in My name they will cast out demons, they will speak with new tongues; they will pick up serpents, and if they drink any deadly poison, it will not hurt them; they will lay hands on the sick, and they will recover.” So then, when the Lord Jesus had spoken to them, He was received up into heaven and sat down at the right hand of God. And they went out and preached everywhere, while the Lord worked with them, and confirmed the word by the signs that followed.”

 

So we see that these “miraculous” spiritual gifts ordained for use by God, given by Jesus and distributed by the Holy Spirit were bestowed upon the Apostles and those God anointed for service. These specific gifts were given to verify and establish their divine ministry as they laid the foundation upon which Christ’s church would be built. During this miraculous period of history where the establishing of the early church took place two other men besides the apostles also did wonderful signs. These were Stephen (Acts 6:8) and Phillip (Acts 8:6). The word “signs” appears 77 times in the New Testament and we see that these signs caused a response to the gospel as well as a validation of the ministry of early Christian leaders.

 

Acts 2:43

“Everyone kept feeling a sense of awe; and many wonders and signs were taking place through the apostles.”

 

Acts 5:12

“At the hands of the apostles many signs and wonders were taking place among the people; and they were all with one accord in Solomon’s portico.”

 

2 Corinthians 12:12

“The signs of a true apostle were performed among you with all perseverance, by signs and wonders and miracles.”

 

Miraculous signs were also demonstrated by Jesus in His ministry as well, to validate He was the Son of God.

 

Acts 2:22-24

“Men of Israel, listen to these words: Jesus the Nazarene, a man attested to you by God with miracles and wonders and signs which God performed through Him in your midst, just as you yourselves know — this Man, delivered over by the predetermined plan and foreknowledge of God, you nailed to a cross by the hands of godless men and put Him to death. “But God raised Him up again, putting an end to the agony of death, since it was impossible for Him to be held in its power.”

 

While we know that these miraculous spiritual gifts confirmed and validated God’s messengers as they ministered and wrote God’s Holy Word, there is debate among followers of Christ today as to whether these special gifts are still functioning in the church. I will attempt to explain my own belief and interpretation as to what scripture has to say about these miraculous gifts with some comments of those who have similar opinions. Volumes of books have been written on this subject and while you may or may not agree with my own interpretations and statements, I believe our Heavenly Father calls us to agree to disagree with these “non-essential” beliefs so that we may still love and minister to one another.

 

“Essential beliefs” are doctrinal beliefs that are crucial and necessary to be identified with the Christian faith and to be considered a true follower of Jesus Christ. Believing that Christ was both fully man and fully God while He walked the earth is an example of an “essential doctrine.” Believing that the only way one is saved is by confessing our sin to God and accepting Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior of our lives is also an “essential doctrine.”

 

“Non-essential” beliefs are beliefs we have that are not critical to the essence of our salvation and our understanding of who God is and how He works. These are beliefs that we may, as fellow followers of Christ, disagree on at times. We may have very strong convictions about such “non-essential beliefs,” but they should not affect our ability or motivation to treat other Christians with respect, dignity and love. After all, God calls us to a unity in our faith in Jesus Christ and in our fellowship with other followers of Christ. Believing that the spiritual gifts of miracles and healings are, or are not, in operation today are examples of “non-essential beliefs.” In other words, while we may disagree on our own respective “non-essential” beliefs, we should be careful how we treat each other as brothers and sisters in Christ. We should in a sense, “agree to disagree” and continue to love and respect one another (John 13:34, 15:12, 17, Romans 13:8, 1 Thessalonians 4:9, Ephesians 4:32, 1 Peter 1:22, 1 John 3:11, 23, 4:7, 11-12, 2 John 5). So with that said I will share my own thoughts that have come about through my study and research.

 

My personal belief is that the specific spiritual gifts of miracles and healings have ceased being given by God today. This does not mean that God does not perform miracles and healings any longer. God does heal people and perform miracles according to His will and in answer to our prayers at certain times even today. This is supported by James 5:14 which instructs followers of Christ to call for the elders to pray over them. James was written before the Corinthian letters and gives us the pattern for the church to follow. James could have instructed believers who were sick to seek out someone in the local fellowship with the gift of healing or miracles to lay hands on them, but instead, he directed them to seek for the elders to pray over them. This sets the pattern for followers of Christ to pray for healing rather than seek miraculous displays of healing through spiritual gifts. Paul in 2 Corinthians 12:7 shares about a “thorn in the flesh” that plagued him. Many Bible commentators think this was a physical ailment or condition that was not removed from his life even though he asked God to do so in his prayers. If this was a physical malady Paul could have sought out someone with the spiritual gift of healing to address this issue, but possibly Paul is implying here that not only does God not always heal, but also that the spiritual gift of healing is fading from use as the early church established its foundational beginnings. The epistles of 1 and 2 Timothy were written later than the Corinthian letters and therefore also seem to suggest that the spiritual gifts of healing and miracles were fading away. Paul writes in 1 Timothy 5:23 that he left Trophimus sick at Miletus. If the spiritual gifts of healings and miracles were still functional at this time, why did Paul not heal him Trophimus or instruct Trophimus to find a believer with the spiritual gift of healing to address his physical need? Yet another example is in 2 Timothy 4:21 where Paul instructs Timothy to use a little wine for the sake of his stomach and other frequent ailments. If the spiritual gifts of healings and miracles were still in effect why did Paul not instruct him to find a follower of Christ with the spiritual gift of healing to be healed? So I state again, I believe the spiritual gifts of healing and miracles faded as the early church eventually became established and are not in operation today. As I said before, I am not saying that God cannot choose to heal someone today miraculously by answering in a positive manner the prayers given by elders or other followers of Christ for someone in need.

 

MIRACLES (Greek = dunamis) A special miraculous power or mighty wonderful work of God

The word miracles is used 120 times in the New Testament and the root word in the Greek stresses the ability to do something supernatural, beyond normal and ordinary natural laws. The word can be translated as power, might, strength, mighty deed or work. But the emphasis of the word is always on the “source of power,” not on the display or action of power itself. Instances where this word is used of spiritual gifts and/or power are;

 

The miracles of Jesus (Luke 4:36, Acts 2:22)

 

Power of the Holy Spirit in believers (Acts 1:8)

 

Miracles of the Apostles (Acts 3:12, Hebrews 2:4, 2 Corinthians 12:12

 

The “Seventy” disciples (Luke 10:1,9,17)

 

This spiritual gift can be defined as the ability to perform supernatural acts that clearly demonstrate God’s power. This is yet another of the sign gifts that verified not only that Jesus was the Son of God but also the Savior of the world. The sign gifts also confirmed and proved the Apostles were anointed by God to form the foundation of the church as well as write Holy Scripture as they were inspired by the Holy Spirit.

 

The ministry of the 12 disciples was mainly to Jews (Matthew 10:5-7, Mark 16:17-20). In the case of the seventy disciples that Jesus sent out, the miracles they performed verified their authority as ones who were commissioned by Jesus to go out to minister to those who were sick or possessed by demons, share His message and make more disciples. Jesus chose these seventy because He wanted every family, clan or tribe to hear the message of the Kingdom of Heaven that was at hand.

 

It is interesting that as you study scripture regarding the situations of miracles being done, you find there are only two types of activity that are classified as miracles. These are the casting out a demon from a person (Luke 4:36 and Mark 9:39 for example) and the second is some type of physical healing (Mark 6:5 for example). Jesus gave the Apostles the ability to work miracles (casting out demons and healing physically) to verify their ministry.

 

HEALINGS (Greek = “iama”) Miraculous instantaneous healing

There are two Greek words used for healing in the New Testament, one (“therapeuo”) is related to therapeutic healing, healing that takes place over a period of time. The other Greek word “iama” implies instantaneous absolute restorative healing (1 Corinthians 12:9). The word associated with the spiritual gift of healing is “iama” and as mentioned above, implies instantaneous healing of any infirmity because it is empowered by the Holy Spirit.

 

The New Testament records that healings were done by Jesus, the twelve Apostles, the seventy disciples and Philip, Peter and Paul.

 

When we investigate the healings that were done by Jesus, the Apostles and disciples we see the following traits;

 

Healings were instantaneous (Mark 1:42)

 

Healings were complete (Matthew 14:36)

 

Healings were permanent (Matthew 14:36)

 

Healings were from diseases that affected a body part or organ. In other words, they were not psychological illnesses or perceptions of illness (Mark 1:40)

 

Healings were in unbelievers who exercised no faith and did not even know who Jesus was (John 9:25)

 

Healings were not for the purpose of relieving people from their suffering or sickness, but for the purpose of verifying Jesus’ ministry and spreading His gospel otherwise it would have been cruel and immoral for our Lord to leave the cities, where the sick sought healing, for the solitude of the country (Luke 5:15-16)

 

Healings were secondary to preaching the Word of God (Luke 9:6)

 

Healings were intended to confirm Jesus and the Apostles as the messengers of God and their message as a Word from God (John 3:2, Acts 2:22, Hebrews 2:3,4)

 

Healings were always successful except in the one case where the disciple’s lack of faith in attempting an exorcism of a demon was the cause (Matthew 17:20)

 

Healings included even bringing the dead back to life. The supreme demonstration of this gift of healing (Mark 5:39-43; Luke 7:14; John 11:44; Acts 9:40)

 

Healings included all who came to Jesus for healing (Matthew 8:16, 15:29-31, Luke 6:19)

 

Healings even occurred with handkerchiefs or aprons touched by Paul (Acts 19:12) although this was not typical of how healings were accomplished, it further validated the fact that God was at work miraculously.

 

There are many people today who are claiming to be able to heal like Jesus did, stating they are anointed by the Holy Spirit to heal all sorts of infirmities and diseases. The problem is when healing does not take place they often blame the faith of the person with the malady. This puts the burden on the person requesting healing and causes them to question their faith in God. The one time that a person was not healed from demon possession was not because of the faith the person possessed, it was because of the lack of faith of the disciples (Matthew 17:20). Unfortunately today, many television evangelists promote themselves as possessing the spiritual gift of healing to gain wealth and popularity. Numerous investigations and evaluations have been done on many of their claims and it is usually discovered that the healings were temporary or the health issues were psychosomatic or psychological in nature. There have even been instances of people who have been so worked up with hopes of being healed that they overly exerted themselves physically to demonstrate the healing they so desperately desired, only to injure themselves and/or die due to these activities. As I listed above the “true” healings done by Jesus and His Apostles, were not of this character or type. A good resource for information regarding the false teaching of “Word of Faith” pastors who falsely claim this spiritual gift of healing is Justin Peters’ web site at: http://justinpeters.org/.

 

It is true that many who claim to be followers of Christ, but are not, will not only prophesy in Jesus name but also cast out demons and perform many miracles. Christ will identify them in His judgment.

 

Matthew 7:21-2

“Not everyone who says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father who is in heaven will enter. “Many will say to Me on that day, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in Your name, and in Your name cast out demons, and in Your name perform many miracles?’ “And then I will declare to them, ‘I never knew you; DEPART FROM ME, YOU WHO PRACTICE LAWLESSNESS.’”

 

But I say again, God can and does perform miraculous healings today by answering our prayers of petition for those we love and care about. He does this, not through followers of Christ who have the spiritual gift of healing, but by responding to our prayers which are offered up to Him in a faithful benevolent manner.

 

James 5:16

“Pray for one another so that you may be healed. The effective prayer of a righteous man can accomplish much.”

 

We know that God does not always choose to heal those we pray for and while we may not understand this, we must trust that God has a divine will and purpose for all of us that is perfect, pure and holy. When God chooses not to heal according to our prayers, our trust in God and faith in His judgment is always necessary to help us cope with His plan for us and our loved ones.

 

Regarding healing today in the church scholar and Bible teacher David Hocking states,

 

“I believe God heals, but not necessarily in the format we so often see, which is organized, theatrical, and highly emotional, with the “healer” commanding that God heal the person. Nowhere in the Bible is God commanded to heal. So many dear people go through that and are not healed, and then they go around feeling guilty because they were told they didn’t have enough faith. That is an insult to God.”

 

While I believe that the spiritual gifts of “miracles” and “healings” have ceased. I still believe that miracles and healings of God do still take place. I also know that our Heavenly Father works in miraculous ways through signs and wonders whenever He chooses to do so.

 

Below is a quote from John Piper as to this dilemma of what to believe regarding signs and wonders. I greatly appreciate his honesty with this controversial issue. (To view his entire sermon you can access it by going to the following web site location: http://www.desiringgod.org/sermons/are-signs-and-wonders-for-today).

“Here are two stacks of books by evangelical pastors and teachers. One stack argues that signs and wonders (like healings) were designed by God to help people recognize and believe in the Son of God and then to vindicate the authority of his apostles as they laid the foundation for the church with their inspired teachings and writings. After the apostles died and their writings were gathered in the New Testament, the place of signs and wonders was past, and we should not seek them today. The other stack of books argues that signs and wonders should be sought and performed today in Jesus’ name. The reason we don’t see so many is because of how little expectancy there is in the church. But God is at work doing a new thing in our day awakening the church to the reality of these things.

 

I read these two stacks of books. I comb the Scriptures. I pray. And I wind up again and again somewhere in the middle with a lot of uncertainty. So the best I can do for you this morning is to show you some of what I see that pulls me in both these different directions. Then perhaps as we study and pray together, the Lord will give us more light.”

 

End Note: I should mention that there is evidence in scripture that there can be miracles and healings performed by our demonic enemy and his evil horde. There are examples that this occurs in the false religion of Spiritism as well as Spiritualism, not to mention other false religions. Evidence in scripture states that false teachers and individuals will appear at times that will be able to do such signs and miracles. Following are scriptures which address this.

 

2 Thessalonians 2:9-10

“The coming of the lawless one will be in accordance with the work of Satan displayed in all kinds of counterfeit miracles, signs and wonders, and in every sort of evil that deceives those who are perishing. They perish because they refused to love the truth and so be saved.”

 

Matthew 24:24, Mark 13:22

“For false Christs and false prophets will appear and perform great signs and miracles to deceive even the elect—if that were possible.”

 

Satan is a great deceiver and the father of lies. He will counterfeit the true blessings and gifts of God to lead others away from our Lord Jesus Christ. We are to be on our guard our hearts and minds (Philippians 4:7, 2 Timothy 1:14, 2 Peter3:17). We are to test the spirits (1 John 4:1). We are to be a consistent and tenacious student of the Word (2 Timothy 2:15). We are to pray continually (Ephesians 6:18, 1 Thessalonians 5:17). We are to follow the example of the Bereans and confirm what we are taught by others (Acts 17:11). We are to hold one another accountable to the Word of God (Colossians 3:16).