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“What About Miracles Today?"
(Hebrews 2:1-4 )
I. Introduction.
A. The charismatic movement makes the assumption that
miracles should be an accepted, normal part of Christian
life. In fact, it teaches that every Christian should receive
miraculous manifestations of the Holy Spirit.
1. According to one writer: the miracles are usually
“small things” and a “common miracle” is finding a
“parking place when needed.” But, he affirms, “of
course the big miracles still happen too.” (Dennis
Bennett, “The Gifts Of The Holy Spirit”).
2. People eagerly listen to, or read, stories of
wonderful, extraordinary occurrences in the lives of
otherwise ordinary people. The fascination with
such phenomena even has a name: “charisma-
mania,” the desire to tell, or hear, of the marvelous.
3. Jesus found such fascination in the “miracle-
hungry” people of His time on earth. But, He didn’t
regard it as a spiritually healthy attitude (read,
Matthew 12:38-40). Jesus drew attention to the one
“sign” upon which people should fix their attention:
the sign of His resurrection from the dead. But,
since the men who asked Him for “a sign” from
Him would not ever acknowledge that He was the
Messiah, the true and only Son of God, they
rejected the evidence of the empty tomb as well.
B. People in Jesus’ time on earth, and people today, were sure
that witnessing the spectacular would make faith and
repentance an easy matter. The rich man of Jesus’ story in
Luke 16, made such an assumption. He asked that Lazarus
be sent from the dead to warn his five brothers, “. . . lest
they also come to this place of torment” (Luke 16:28).
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1. Abraham answered his request this way: “Abraham
said to him, ‘They have Moses and the prophets; let
them hear them.’” (verse 29).
2. In rebuttal, the rich man protests that, if one returns
from the dead, “. . . they will repent” (verse 30).
“But he [Abraham] said to him [the rich man], ‘If
they do not hear Moses and the prophets, neither
will they be persuaded though one rise from the
dead’” (verse 31).
3. It’s easy to assume that a miracle so great would
compel someone to change their thinking. Jesus
asserted that there is nothing greater, or more
powerful, than the word of God itself in bringing
people to repentance.
4. Scripture tells us that we’ve been given enough
evidence to lead us to faith, and eternal life
(read, John 20:30-31). We cannot demand more
evidence without, at the same time, demeaning
the sufficiency of what has already been given to us.
II. What Is A Miracle?
A. If we are discuss this matter of miracles today, we, first,
must look at the definition of the term “miracle” itself.
1. Three words are used in the New Testament which
can be translated as “miracle.”
a. SEMEION, “sign.”
b. TERAS, “wonder.”
c. DUNAMIS, “power.”
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2. The biblical concept of miracle includes what is
conveyed by each of these words. It takes all three
to define a miracle. Every miracle recorded in the
Bible is, at once, a “sign,” a “wonder,” and a direct
exertion of God’s “power.”
B. SEMEION (“sign”) is the apostle John’s favorite word for
miracle. It indicates that such an occurrence points to
something beyond itself, something that does not exist for
its own sake. It provides a means of teaching, and stresses
that a miracle has meaning, or significance, and is not just a
random occurrence.
1. In John 6, we have the account of Jesus feeding
more than five thousand people. John refers to this
as a “sign” in verse 14. In this context, and in direct
connection with this miracle, Jesus says: “. . . ‘I am
the bread of life. He who comes to Me shall never
hunger, and he who believes in Me shall never
thirst.’” (John 6:35). There is a direct connection
between Jesus’ physically feeding people, and His
spiritual purpose as “the bread of life.” He says He
satisfies the greatest need of all human beings. The
sustenance we obtain from Him gives us eternal
life. But, the people focused only upon the miracle
itself, and wanted it repeated. (“Jesus . . . said,
‘Most assuredly, I say to you, you seek Me, not
because you saw the signs, but because you ate of
the loaves and were filled.’” John 14:26).
2. John 9 (v. 1-8) records the “sign” of Jesus’ healing
of a man born blind. He gives us the significance
of the miracle in verse 5: “As long as I am in the
world, I am the light of the world.” Is the focus on
the miracle itself, or the teaching it provides?
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3. When Jesus raises Lazarus from the grave, He uses
it as an opportunity to explain the miracle this way:
“. . . I am the resurrection and the life. He who
believes in Me, though he may die, he shall live’”
(John 11:25).
4. The greater purpose of every miracle Jesus per-
formed was to teach people who He was (and is)
and to fix their attention on Him. But, then and
now, people are more interested in the event than
in its real meaning.
C. TERAS (“wonder”) is the equivalent of the Latin word
“miraculum,” which means “a strange thing.” or “a thing
which excites wonder.” This is where we get our English
word “miracle.”
1. By definition, then, a miracle is some unusual (a
strange), extraordinary, or unexpected event. It is
never the norm. This contradicts the belief that, as a
Christian, we should witness miracles every day.
2. There are really two ways to downplay biblical
miracles. You can deny them completely, or try to
give them some sort of rational explanation. The
second way is to see everything as a miracle. For
example, if I were to say every birth is a miracle,
then what does this make the virgin birth of Christ?
Wasn’t Christ’s conception and birth different from
all other conceptions and births? Isn’t it this
difference that makes it a miracle?
3. If we see everything in the miraculous category, if
we remove the unusual, the extraordinary, and the
unexpected from it, doesn’t that destroy miracles as
a unique type of event?
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D. Then, DUNAMIS, we said, means “power.” It is often
translated as “mighty work”, or a “mighty deed.” How can
the exertion of God’s power be miraculous if everything is
ultimately caused, preserved, or permitted by the power of
God?
1. One answer is that God works through His creation
(natural forces) to preserve and sustain what He has
made. A miracle is the immediate result of God’s
power, apart from such natural, physical laws and
forces.
2. That which is truly miraculous does not involve
time, as do natural forces. God’s power multiplied
the loaves and fishes in John 6, but loaves and
fishes multiply every day by natural means. The
second takes time, the first was immediate.
a. When wheat, or other grains, is planted, do
they not germinate, and grow, by the power
of God?
b. When fish reproduce in the natural way, is
that not by the power of God?
c. But for two small fish, and five barley
loaves, to become enough to feed over five
thousand people, and then have “. . . twelve
baskets [filled] with the fragments. . .” left
over after all had eaten their fill – that’s
power, and that’s a miracle.
E. Jesus taught His disciples to pray: “Give us this day our
daily bread” (Matthew 6:11). If a person plows the garden,
cuts the grass and weeds, then gathers the crop and
prepares it for eating, do they have anything to thank God for?
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1. Has God not caused them to grow, as we work to
see that they are able to grow by our efforts?
2. Is not God responsible for the life in the seed in the first place?
3. When a person prays for God to grant a good
harvest, is it wrong to put forth the effort to see the
fulfillment of that desire? Of course not, because
we expect God to work, over time and by natural
processes, to produce the harvest.
4. Here’s the difference between a miracle and the
working of God in His creation.
F. Expecting a miracle means we wait for God to act alone.
To use what God has provided for us in the physical world
does not reflect a lack of faith in the power of God, it
simply makes use of the resources God Himself has given
to us – including the ability to work and the use of common
sense.
III. Are There Miracles Today?
A. The miracles recorded in the Bible are different from the
miracles claimed today. The first difference is that the
miracles in the Bible have a purpose that explains why they
occurred. That purpose was to serve as testimony that
those who did these things were acting as messengers of
God. “Signs, and wonders and mighty works” were
objective evidence that a person was empowered by God
and, carried an important message from God:
1. John 3:2: “This man [Nicodemus] came to Jesus by
night and said to Him, ‘Rabbi, we know that you are
a teacher come from God; for no one can do these
signs that you do unless God is with him.’”
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2. Luke 24:46-49 (read).
3. Paul (Romans 15:19): “in mighty signs and
wonders by the power of the Spirit of God, so that
from Jerusalem and round about to Illyricum I have
fully preached the gospel of Christ.”
4. II Corinthians 12:12: “Truly the signs of an apostle
were accomplished among you with all
perseverance, in signs and wonders and mighty
deeds.”
B. A second point of difference is that the miracles of the
Bible are clustered around great events. They are not
spaced evenly throughout the various periods of Bible
history. In fact, you find long periods without miracles.
The events around which you find miracles concern the
development of God’s plan of redemption, to confirm,
and authenticate, the word of God. Again they served a
specific purpose. (Read, Hebrews 2:3-4).
C. The third point may be the most significant of all. Since
God’s revelation to people is complete, the alleged miracles
of today lack a rationale (reason). If we believe the Bible is
the full word of God now given to people, and it is
sufficient to provide people “. . . all things that pertain to
life and godliness, through the knowledge of Him (Christ)
who called us by glory and virtue” (II Peter 1:3), then, what
further purpose could miracles serve today?
1. Paul says (I Corinthians 13:8-10): “Love never
fails. But whether there are prophecies, they will
fail; whether there are tongues, they will cease;
whether there is knowledge, it will vanish away.
For we know in part and we prophesy in part. But
when that which is perfect [complete] has come,
then that which is in part will be done away.”
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2. “That which is perfect,” the Bible, has come. The
purpose for miraculous gifts has passed. The two
are bound together.
IV. Conclusion.
A. One final point: when the apostles, and all upon whom
they had “laid hands” died, the miraculous gifts of the Holy
Spirit ceased as well. (Case of Philip in Samaria, Acts 8.
Coming of apostles; transmission of gifts by them, not
Philip).
B. Provision has been made for eternal life. Miracles have
nothing to do with this, today. God’s word is what guides
us to our eternal home.