Our fascination with miracles and the mystery of the unknown seem to play a big part in our interest in miraculous healing and the power of the unknown.The question is: What does the Bible say about miracles? Are we to seek after these things? After all Jesus performed 33 miracles reported in all the Gospels; so it must be OK. Well, we can't just assume that. We must, as always, find out to see if our suspicions can be validated by the Bible. The idea of a miracle is that some higher power must be able to offset those laws that have been established by God from creation.
THE MECHANICS OF A MIRACLES
We know that God is the Creator of all things. There is no other God and therefore there is no other Creator besides God. (Isaiah 46:9) Unless God sets aside His laws or recreate an opposing force greater than that He created in the beginning, there would be no miracle possible.(It means that God will have second thoughts about His creation as being perfect; it also means that God does not know the end from the beginning.This is atrocious misrepresentation of the truth because the Bible is emphatic that God knows the end from the beginning (.Ecclesiastes 3:11; Isaiah 46:10; Hebrews 7:3; Revelation 21:6) That is the basis of the salvation of the Bible.) For instance in order for man to fly he must overcome the force of gravity. This was accomplished with the airplane. We know without a doubt that the gravitational pull of the earth is a constant at 32ft/sec/sec. This number will never change whether we are at sea level or at the highest peak; it will always be the same for the earth. God at no time has ever set aside this law since the beginning.Therefore in order to change the perfect creation that God created there has to be a justifiable reason. God does not do anything haphazardly. He has meticulously thought out every aspect of creation even to the end of the world before the He created them in the beginning and there is no reason to undo any of the laws He created. Genesis 1:31 ¶ And God saw every thing that he had made, and, behold, it was very good. And the evening and the morning were the sixth day.
This is a very big statement; When God says something is very good it is a big deal. For example;on the third day God created the land and sea it was good. Genesis 1:9-13 9 ¶ And God said, Let the waters under the heaven be gathered together unto one place, and let the dry land appear: and it was so. 10 And God called the dry land Earth; and the gathering together of the waters called he Seas: and God saw that it was good. 11 And God said, Let the earth bring forth grass, the herb yielding seed, and the fruit tree yielding fruit after his kind, whose seed is in itself, upon the earth: and it was so. 12 And the earth brought forth grass, and herb yielding seed after his kind, and the tree yielding fruit, whose seed was in itself, after his kind: and God saw that it was good. 13 And the evening and the morning were the third day. Today the earth still yield fruit and grass and everything that were there at creation; God didn't have to recreate the earth or rework the ground so that it would bring forth it's fruit. The sea also produces it fruit of fish and creatures that no one can really replenish. Remember, He said the earth and the sea were good. It means the earth and the sea will keep on producing until a time that God knows that it won't, if there is such a time. Likewise, man on the sixth day when man was created Genesis 1:26 ¶ And God said, Let us make man in our image, after our likeness: and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth. 27 So God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them. 28 And God blessed them, and God said unto them, Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth, and subdue it: and have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over every living thing that moveth upon the earth. 29 ¶ And God said, Behold, I have given you every herb bearing seed, which is upon the face of all the earth, and every tree, in the which is the fruit of a tree yielding seed; to you it shall be for meat. 30 And to every beast of the earth, and to every fowl of the air, and to every thing that creepeth upon the earth, wherein there is life, I have given every green herb for meat: and it was so. 31 ¶ And God saw every thing that he had made, and, behold, it was very good. And the evening and the morning were the sixth day. To try and change the course of things by supplanting the perfect order of things as God has ordained them is blasphemous. It means that God is not sovereign and He didn't create a perfect human being. If those that perform these, so called, miracle healings believe it is from God then God's house is divided. He is trying to fix something that He could have done in the beginning or at least though the life of every individual because He has that power to create.God knows when each individual will die. Every one of us has an appointed day to be born and to die.Genesis 18:14 Is any thing too hard for the LORD? At the time appointed I will return unto thee, according to the time of life, and Sarah shall have a son. Job also speaks of the time of man Job 7:1 ¶ Is there not an appointed time to man upon earth? are not his days also like the days of an hireling? The question is as Genesis 18:14 says; Is any thing too hard for the LORD? Only God is the Creator when we try to meddle with His domain then we are trespassing on His area of sovereignty and that is blasphemous against God. But who would do such a thing? Are not these prophets of God that do these things?.Let me be clear about this; Not all those that appear as servants of God are true servants of God; 1Corinthians 11:13-15 13 For such are false apostles, deceitful workers, transforming themselves into the apostles of Christ. 14 And no marvel; for Satan himself is transformed into an angel of light. 15 Therefore it is no great thing if his ministers also be transformed as the ministers of righteousness; whose end shall be according to their works. They will look like the real McCoy but they are wolves in sheep's clothing. God, in His mercy, has given us His Word the Bible to warn us. Woe to them that see not and hear not these warnings. Those that are deceived by these miracles are the unsaved. Those who are the elect of God will not be snared by them. Matthew 24:24 For there shall arise false Christs, and false prophets, and shall shew great signs and wonders; insomuch that, if it were possible, they shall deceive the very elect. The study of Psalm 23 will reveal to us that if we are an elect of God we are safe in the care of the Shepherd of our salvation. This is why our salvation is dependent on God and not us. Only He know how the devil would attack us. If it was up to us we would certainly perish.
WHAT IS FAITH AND WHY THERE IS A NEED FOR IT
What do we find from the Bible with regard to this issue of miracles? We read an account of the Scribes and the Pharisees when they confronted Jesus with this same question. It is very interesting in Matthew 15 and in Mark 8 where Jesus had just performed a miracle of feeding the 4000. The Pharisees and the Sadducees came to tempt Jesus as we see the account of Matthew 16:1-4
1 ¶ The Pharisees also with the Sadducees came, and tempting desired him that he would shew them a sign from heaven. 2 He answered and said unto them, When it is evening, ye say, It will be fair weather: for the sky is red. 3 And in the morning, It will be foul weather to day: for the sky is red and lowring. O ye hypocrites, ye can discern the face of the sky; but can ye not discern the signs of the times? 4 A wicked and adulterous generation seeketh after a sign; and there shall no sign be given unto it, but the sign of the prophet Jonas. And he left them, and departed.
There are several issues here. First, Jesus knew their darkened minds with unbelief draw the parallel that they are physically able to see the signs of of the skies and yet they cannot believe what He is telling them about the kingdom of heaven. In this account Jesus tells those that tempted Him: How is it that they could discern the weather and yet they cannot discern the "sign of the times" What is in view is that the Pharisees and the Sadducees are a picture of those who are unsaved; who do not have the faith to believe in the Lord Jesus Christ. Jesus accused them of being hypocrites.who are part of the wicked and adulterous generation that need a sign in order to believe. Jesus is pointing out that those that would believe would not seek a sign because they have the faith to believe. He will give those of His elect the faith to believe in Him. This can be affirmed by what Apostle John wrote in John 12:37 ¶ But though he had done so many miracles before them, yet they believed not on him: This is true of what the Lord Jesus had done in feeding the 4000 and yet it did not convince them that are not His elect. This is the same issue we find today. Those that are looking for a "spiritual buzz" will be accommodated as God will keep the truth from them. They will be snared by the wiles of the devil to keep from knowing the truth. The real difference as Jesus brought out in His statement that they can tell when it is fair weather, but they cannot see or believe the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Believing in Christ is seeing with our spiritual eyes, the other we see with our physical eyes.
What we are learning is that the Gospel of Jesus Christ is not accomplished by miracles. If it were, Jesus would have convinced more than a handful during His 3 1/2 year ministry. (The most number saved in any one day event is the day of Pentecost where about 3000 were saved) This confirms a real truism about the Gospel of Jesus Christ: That we are "saved by faith" The Gospel of Jesus Christ is about the saving of souls where we are told in Ephesians 2:8 For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: Naturally we would ask the question, What is faith? We find our answer from Hebrews 11:1 ¶ Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen. Faith is something that we hope for. It is something we do not see but we have a certainty of its outcome because we trust in whom gives it. Likewise we are told it is evidence of something that we are yet to see even though we are not seeing it at the present. Now if this is what faith is then what is seeing hath to do with anything? It simply means that if we see it without needing faith we do not have faith. It is exactly the opposite.But faith is very important in our relationship with God. Hebrews 11:6 But without faith it is impossible to please him: for he that cometh to God must believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him. The faith of the believer must be strong anchored on the Rock the Lord Jesus Christ. This is the faith that we must depend on to have and continue a relationship with God because without it we cannot believe God. Romans 1:17 For therein is the righteousness of God revealed from faith to faith: as it is written, The just shall live by faith. Anything we do without a total trust in God is not accepted. Is this what we see when there a need to see a sign from heaven? We can simply say that those that seek after a sign like the Pharisees and the Sadducees lack the faith to believe on the Lord Jesus Christ. ( It is Christ that gives that faith and He knows who they are that would believe. John 10:14) How can we resolve the fact that Jesus did perform miracles.
THE FIASCO OF PHYSICAL HEALING
Most of the people today when we ask what their greatest wish is for their lives. The overwhelming answer is that they would like to have a long and healthy life. If such request is achieved, the longest the average person could live is 70, 80, 90 or perhaps 100 years and then they die; where is the gain? Such an achievement is an eternity in terms of this life. However, when we talk of eternity in terms of life everlasting we are talking millions of years times that. Why then are people so interested in physical longevity or in physical healing? The answer can only be that they have no conception of eternity or that they cannot visualize the reality of life everlasting; either case requires the faith of The Lord Jesus Christ to believe. It is for that reason the Gospel is not about this life but the life hereafter; 2Corinthians 4:18 While we look not at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen: for the things which are seen are temporal; but the things which are not seen are eternal. Clearly, the Gospel is about eternal life where there is eternal glory living in eternal peace with God instead of suffering eternal damnation in hell for our unpaid sins; Jude 1:7 Even as Sodom and Gomorrha, and the cities about them in like manner, giving themselves over to fornication, and going after strange flesh, are set forth for an example, suffering the vengeance of eternal fire.
THE PURPOSE OF CHRIST'S MIRACLES.
We know that the reason why Christ did miracles was not to convert anyone to believe in Him because of what we are told in Matthew 16:1-4 with regards to not giving a sign other than the prophet Jonah, we know that the ministry of Christ is other than a simple miracle to demonstrate the power of God.. We know this because of John 12:37 we have already quoted. If Christ's miracles was just to bring a physical healing, then Jesus's ministry was a total failure. Let's look at John 12:37 again; ¶ But though he had done so many miracles before them, yet they believed not on him: and the reason given was that verse 40 He hath blinded their eyes, and hardened their heart; that they should not see with their eyes, nor understand with their heart, and be converted, and I should heal them. Even though Christ came to redeem His elect He had a much more important and monumental task and that was to go to the cross and complete the plan of salvation as preordained by God from the beginning. It was later on at Pentecost that the sending forth of the Gospel was proclaimed to be sent out to all the world where about 3000 souls were saved (Acts 2:41)
What then was the purpose for the miracles? When we look at all the miracles there is a lesson God is pointing out to us to show us some aspect of His salvation plan.The first miracle of changing water to wine is an excellent example as all the miracles are. John 2:6 - 9 And there were set there six waterpots of stone, after the manner of the purifying of the Jews, containing two or three firkins apiece. 7 Jesus saith unto them, Fill the waterpots with water. And they filled them up to the brim. 8 And he saith unto them, Draw out now, and bear unto the governor of the feast. And they bare it. 9 When the ruler of the feast had tasted the water that was made wine, and knew not whence it was: (but the servants which drew the water knew;) the governor of the feast called the bridegroom, We would not have time to develop this but the water is the picture of the Gospel by the Word of God (Ephesians 5:26) The water when we drink it is a symbol of drinking the blood (wine) of Jesus who was shed for those that He came to save. The wedding is a picture of the wedding between the groom (Jesus) and the bride (believers) on His return. Christ could be the only one to do this. No apostle or prophet could do this then even today.
WHAT THEN DO THE MIRACLES THAT JESUS DID MEAN?
Through miracles and parable, Jesus used then to illustrate His salvation plan. We can look at some of the healings that Jesus did and try to implore the Salvation message it gives. We will look at the healing of a blind man and see what the Salvation message is or the Spiritual meaning or also known as the Gospel message that God wants to teach us. ( We've indicated by highlighting a phrase that gives us a lead regarding an important aspects of salvation. Then we will discuss how that phrase fits into the salvation of the Bible ) Luke 18:35-43
35 ¶ And it came to pass, that as he was come nigh unto Jericho, a certain blind man(1) sat by the way side begging(2): 36 And hearing the multitude pass by, he asked what it meant. 37 And they told him(3), that Jesus of Nazareth passeth by. 38 And he cried, saying, Jesus, thou Son of David, have mercy on me(4),. 39 And they which went before rebuked him, that he should hold his peace: but he cried so much the more(5) Thou Son of David, have mercy on me. 40 And Jesus stood, and commanded him to be brought unto him: and when he was come near, he asked him, 41 Saying, What wilt thou that I shall do unto thee? And he said, Lord, that I may receive my sight(6) 42 And Jesus said unto him, Receive thy sight: thy faith hath saved thee(7):. 43 And immediately he received his sight, and followed him, glorifying God(8), and all the people, when they saw it(9) gave praise unto God(10).
This is the explanation of this parable and how one might look for the Salvation message or the Spiritual or Gospel message from a parable.
(1) "A certain blind man" Blindness points to a condition before we are saved as everyone that is unsaved is blind. This is not physical blindness; but blindness due to the fact that God has blinded our eyes from understanding the Bible and the truth about salvation Isaiah 29:18 And in that day shall the deaf hear the words of the book, and the eyes of the blind shall see out of obscurity, and out of darkness.When we become saved our spiritual eyes (understanding) will be opened.
(2) "Begging" God uses the word beggar to indicate those that are deprived or the poor of the world as a picture of His elect as we see in the parable of the rich man and Lazarus in Luke 16:19-31. We also see from 1Samuel 2:8 He raiseth up the poor out of the dust, and lifteth up the beggar from the dunghill, to set them among princes, and to make them inherit the throne of glory: for the pillars of the earth are the LORD'S, and he hath set the world upon them. This is the picture of the elect when he/she is saved. This is how we are in relation to the almighty God. We beg for His mercy if He would grant us salvation. Remember, God decides who is saved and who is not purely His decision alone.
(3)."They told him" There would have been no way for the blind man to know that Jesus the son of David, the Saviour of the world (Matthew 1:1) was around. He knew because he was told about it. The Gospel can only be known and understood by God's people if we tell others about it. (There would have been no was for the blind man to know that Christ was there that could open his eyes.(This points to our spiritual eyes; if they are not opened we cannot understand the message of salvation, and therefore can't be saved.) Acts 28:26 - 27 Saying, Go unto this people, and say, Hearing ye shall hear, and shall not understand; and seeing ye shall see, and not perceive: 27 For the heart of this people is waxed gross, and their ears are dull of hearing, and their eyes have they closed; lest they should see with their eyes, and hear with their ears, and understand with their heart, and should be converted, and I should heal them. This is not a physical healing but the healing of their sin-sick souls because of their sins)
(4) "Jesus, thou Son of David, have mercy on me" Being made aware of the Gospel message we know that it is only through Christ where we might be saved. There is no other name where we can be saved. (Acts 4:12) Knowing this we beg God for mercy. We know, if we hear the true message of salvation that we must have the mercy of God; Romans 9:15,18 For he saith to Moses, I will have mercy on whom I will have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I will have compassion. 18 Therefore hath he mercy on whom he will have mercy, and whom he will he hardeneth. It is by God's grace alone that gets us saved. We do not deserve it so we can't demand it.
(5) "Cried so much the more" One of the ways to demonstrate our faith in Jesus Christ is our persistence in pursuing Christ. This is like a believer that has built a house on the Rock which is the Lord Jesus Christ, No storm or flood can overcome it. (Luke 6:48) We also see a parallel parable in Luke 11:5 -8 And he said unto them, Which of you shall have a friend, and shall go unto him at midnight, and say unto him, Friend, lend me three loaves; 6 For a friend of mine in his journey is come to me, and I have nothing to set before him? 7 And he from within shall answer and say, Trouble me not: the door is now shut, and my children are with me in bed; I cannot rise and give thee. 8 I say unto you, Though he will not rise and give him, because he is his friend, yet because of his importunity he will rise and give him as many as he needeth. The lesson here is that our persistence will result in God having mercy on us.
(6) "Lord, that I may receive my sight" The only thing that we could ever want is that God would open our spiritual eyes. This was lost when Adam and Eve disobeyed God and from then on their eyes were closed.Genesis 2:25 and 3:7; 25 And they were both naked, the man and his wife, and were not ashamed. Genesis 3:7 And the eyes of them both were opened, and they knew that they were naked; and they sewed fig leaves together, and made themselves aprons. What we are seeing in Genesis 2:25 is the fact that Adam and Eve were physically nude and they were oblivious to it. Their Spiritual eyes were open and not their physical perspective. When God open their physical eyes and took away their Spiritual eyes (understanding) they became aware of their nakedness because they became like we are today.
(7) "Thy faith hath saved thee" We could ask the question; Can we be saved without faith? The answer is NO! In Philippians 3:9 ¶ And be found in him, not having mine own righteousness, which is of the law, but that which is through the faith of Christ, the righteousness which is of God by faith:
8. "Followed him glorifying God" Actually we could break this up into two scenarios. First we follow Jesus and next we glorify Him. The first scenario is typical of those that are saved which are commanded by the Lord Jesus to follow Him. This we see in John 12:26 If any man serve me, let him follow me; and where I am, there shall also my servant be: if any man serve me, him will my Father honour. Secondly, those that are save do not seek glory for themselves but that of God. We see the example of Abraham, one of the heroes of faith that was promised the blessing for his seed of all those that was elected to salvation. Romans 4:20 He staggered not at the promise of God through unbelief; but was strong in faith, giving glory to God;
9. "They saw it" This may seem insignificant but those that saw and understood what had happened to the blind men praised God because the saw the miracle of God. John 3:3 Jesus answered and said unto him, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God. This verse is not saying that those that are born again (saved) will be able to look up in heaven and see the kingdom of God. We know that's not what the verse is saying. What this verse is saying is that those that are saved will understand the things of the kingdom of God. The things of the kingdom of God is the Bible. Conversely, those that are not saved will not understand the sayings of the Bible which contain the Words about the kingdom of God.
10. "Praise unto God(10). Those that praise God are those that are saved. The unsaved do not praise God, Psalm 115:17 The dead praise not the LORD, neither any that go down into silence. Anyone that is dead cannot praise God. However, the spiritual application of this verse is that the spiritually dead (unsaved) do not praise God because they do not see God. Those that praise God are the believers. Romans 2:29 But he is a Jew, which is one inwardly; and circumcision is that of the heart, in the spirit, and not in the letter; whose praise is not of men, but of God. In looking at this parable / miracle we can see why Jesus performed the miracles not just to heal the sight of the blind but that their spiritual eyes may be open to see the salvation of God.
We look at the parable of the woman in Luke 7:44 And he turned to the woman, and said unto Simon, Seest thou this woman? I entered into thine house, thou gavest me no water for my feet: but she hath washed my feet with tears, and wiped them with the hairs of her head. 45 Thou gavest me no kiss: but this woman since the time I came in hath not ceased to kiss my feet. 46 My head with oil thou didst not anoint: but this woman hath anointed my feet with ointment. 47 Wherefore I say unto thee, Her sins, which are many, are forgiven; for she loved much: but to whom little is forgiven, the same loveth little. 48 And he said unto her, Thy sins are forgiven. 49 And they that sat at meat with him began to say within themselves, Who is this that forgiveth sins also? 50 And he said to the woman, Thy faith hath saved thee; go in peace. We also see that what is typical of the miracles that Jesus did was that He would almost always end with what we have underlined.: The phrase "go in peace" is also a statement that refers to salvation. We cannot find true peace unless we have been saved. That their sins are forgiven or that thy faith have "saved her" instead of healed all indicate that because it is only Jesus that can save anyone by His faith, He is also the only one who can forgive sins because He knows who the elect are. John 18:9 That the saying might be fulfilled, which he spake, Of them which thou gavest me have I lost none. Those that have been elected to salvation was given to Christ and everyone that was given was saved. Revelation 14:1 ¶ And I looked, and, lo, a Lamb stood on the mount Sion, and with him an hundred forty and four thousand, having his Father's name written in their foreheads. The Lamb on Mt. Sion is the Lord Jesus Christ from heaven with those 144,000 (symbolic number) that are saved as indicated by the name written on their foreheads. On the other hand those that are unsaved have the mark of the beast on their foreheads or hands; Revelation 14:9-10 And the third angel followed them, saying with a loud voice, If any man worship the beast and his image, and receive his mark in his forehead, or in his hand, 10 The same shall drink of the wine of the wrath of God, which is poured out without mixture into the cup of his indignation; and he shall be tormented with fire and brimstone in the presence of the holy angels, and in the presence of the Lamb: This is the events of the last day as we shall all appear before the judgment throne of God.
WHAT THEN OF THESE MIRACLES, IF ANY, WE SEE?
If there are miracles in these last days we know it is of Satan. God allows Satan the opportunity to deceive those that will perish. 2Thessalonians 2:8-10 And then shall that Wicked be revealed, whom the Lord shall consume with the spirit of his mouth, and shall destroy with the brightness of his coming: 9 Even him, whose coming is after the working of Satan with all power and signs and lying wonders, 10 And with all deceivableness of unrighteousness in them that perish; because they received not the love of the truth, that they might be saved. We read also about the second beast, who are the false gospels that get their power from the first beast Satan in Revelation 13:13 And he doeth great wonders, so that he maketh fire come down from heaven on the earth in the sight of men, 14 And deceiveth them that dwell on the earth by the means of those miracles which he had power to do in the sight of the beast; saying to them that dwell on the earth, that they should make an image to the beast, which had the wound by a sword, and did live. There is no doubt that Satan is hard at work but only as God allows him to do so. He has no power over the child of God who is under the protection of the Shepherd of our salvation the Lord Jesus Christ.
CONCLUSION
We have looked at why those that perform these miracles and those that participate in them is blasphemous to God. These are individuals that have not understood the Word of God even though they appear as servants of God they are servants of Satan as we saw in 1Corinthians 11:13-15 We also shown why the miracles Jesus did was for a specific purpose, to teach us about salvation. We have given a demonstration of how one might look for the salvation messages in any part of the Bible. The study of Revelation 13 in our Bible Study section can discuss further and in a detailed method why miracles is the work of Satan.in these later times. We feel it is our job as watchman of the Gospel of Jesus Christ to sound the alarm regarding the nature of miracles in today's world. May God give us the eyes to see and the ears to hear.
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