A New Day of Miracles

It would be well to remember that God has said: "For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, saith the Lord. For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways, and my thoughts than your thoughts" (Isaiah 55:8, 9). God seems to feel no obligation to cater to the skeptical bent of mind that has so insidiously invaded and snared the thought-life of modern Western man. Tragically enough, secular humanism has been baptized and welcomed into the theological persuasions of much of the church today to dominate its ideals as to what kinds of things are acceptable for God to do.

Amazingly, just when we think we have God "pegged," with a clear view of what He will and won't do, He pulls a fast one on us. God reserves the right to be the sovereign Lord of all of creation and may do as He chooses--when He chooses--without our permission. He seems to take delight in confounding the foolish wisdom of men. In fact, note how the scripture describes our wisdom when viewed in the light of His: "The foolishness of God is wiser than men; and the weakness of God is stronger than men." (1 Corinthians 1:25).

I have studied the Bible rather thoroughly over the past 49 years and I can't find a single scripture that convinces me that the miracle working days of God are past. Man may offer many justifications why it seems reasonable for him to believe the days of miracles are past but the best he can offer is just that--a reasoned out objection, not a strong, definitive Biblical teaching.

Objections to the idea of miraculous events seem to fit into some of the following categories:

Reactionary prejudices against the teaching and practices of others based on bad previous personal experience. I have to admit that it is easy to be turned off by some who profess to be miracle workers based on their practices but one should remember that the practices of some should not be used as a standard for all. Personal reactions or prejudice is not an acceptable basis for determining whether a thing be of God or not.

Rational presuppositions. Having spent a number of years in various universities hearing the ideas and prejudices of man espoused, it made it very difficult for me to believe. The background that I came out of was extremely rational having no room for speculations about the supernatural and miraculous. It took years for me to shed the debris of my presuppositions that had accumulated in the cloisters of my mind and to come to the place of simple faith.

Ignorance or lack of exposure. Many people in Western societies simply haven't been knowledgeably exposed to recognizable authentic supernatural activity. In the more primitive societies where spiritism is taken as a natural part of their thinking and society, there is a much greater acceptance of the miracle working activity of God when exposed to it, simply because their culture includes the belief in spiritual activity.

The propensity of the church to attribute unexplainable phenomenon to Satan rather than to God. Man is all too ready to stereotype miraculous occurrences as cultic or occultic. Frankly, such tendencies make me very nervous. I'm perfectly aware of both cultic and occultic activities, having spent much of my adult years helping people to get free from the bondages associated with them. We must not be too ready, however, to cast all supernatural and miraculous occurrences on a theological dung heap by attributing them to Satan.

Jesus warned us: "All manner of sin and blasphemy shall be forgiven unto men: but the blasphemy against the Holy Ghost shall not be forgiven unto men. And whosoever speaketh a word against the Son of man, it shall be forgiven him: but whosoever speaketh against the Holy Ghost, it shall not be forgiven him, neither in this world, neither in the world to come" (Matthew 12:32). According to the context of this verse, blasphemy against the Holy Spirit is attributing His works to the devil.

An arbitrary determination of what may be considered to be a legitimate act of God. With this mentality, a person would not deny that a miracle has occurred but due to the nature of it would be unable to see logical reasons why God should do such a thing and thus reject it considering it a work of the flesh or of Satan. I have some difficulty accepting such criteria as a legitimate basis for determining whether an occurrence is a work of God or not. When I read of a God who parts flooded rivers, makes axheads swim, makes the sun stand still for nearly a day, who heals leprosy with muddy water, who cripples an army with hemorrhoids, who makes a king crawl on his knees like a beast, a donkey as a spokesman to a prophet, who makes fish to deliver money, roosters to sound an alarm, heals blindness with spittle--I don't know what He might do next. He will do exactly as He chooses whether we like or approve of what He does or not!

Am I saying that one should take all unexplained phenomena and attribute it to God? No, that would be a very foolish thing to do. Paul warned against being too gullible when he said: "But I fear, lest by any means, as the serpent beguiled Eve through his subtlety, so your minds should be corrupted from the simplicity that is in Christ. For if he that cometh preacheth another Jesus, whom we have not preached, or if ye receive another spirit, which ye have not received, or another gospel, which ye have not accepted, ye might well bear with him" (2 Corinthians 11:3, 4).

There are definite tests that can be applied to determine if a thing be of God.

Did it occur in context of Godly people or situations
Was human manipulation involved?
Does God get glory from it?
Did it bring people closer to Christ?
Does it contradict the scripture?
Has it contributed to your peace with God?
Is it lasting?

Need I say that miracles were a matter of course throughout the Bible, although on one occasion Gideon chided the Lord because of the lack of them: "And Gideon said unto him, Oh my Lord, if the Lord be with us, why then is all this befallen us? and where be all his miracles which our fathers told us of, saying, Did not the Lord bring us up from Egypt? but now the Lord hath forsaken us, and delivered us into the hands of the Midianites" (Judges 6:13).

Many believe that the canonization of the Bible removed all need for miracles; that they were only given to give testimony of Christ. There is no clear Biblical teaching that makes that point. Historically, they have occurred throughout the church age through the agency of Godly men and women.

Today, the resurgence of them, I believe, is to refute the skepticism and rationalism of the age that causes men to reject the Bible as the Word of God and refuse to acknowledge His authority in the conduct of personal and world affairs. Yes, concurrent with the resurgence of miracles will be the counterfeits of Satan. We should remember one thing regarding that; there can only be a counterfeit when there is the real thing that it imitates. In times of spiritual activity, God gives the gift of discernment, helping men to discover that which is real that the moving of God may not pass them by and that they may not fall prey to the activity of Satan.

God grant us the courage to accept everything that is of you and to reject everything that comes from the enemy and the wisdom to know the difference.

Jeff