Sermon Tone Analysis

Introduction

And God has appointed in the church first apostles, second prophets, third teachers,

And God has appointed in the church first apostles, second prophets, third teachers,

then miracles, then gifts of healing, helping, administrating, and various kinds of tongues.

Introduction

Last week we took some time to consider a couple of roles or people that were gifts to the church, namely apostles and prophets.

This week we will consider, in a broad manner, the miraculous or supernatural gifts given to the church.

Any discussion concerning the miraculous spiritual gifts mentioned in the New Testament seems to demand that one answer the question of whether or not those same gifts are to be the normal experience for today.

In answering this question it is important to clarify that the question is whether or not the supernatural spiritual gifts have ceased, not whether or not God still does miracles.

For instance, no believer, whether you believe spiritual gifts are for today or not, believes that God no longer can heal someone.

But there are many that believe the supernatural gift of healing is no longer given to individuals in the church.

Therefore, the question is not whether God still works miracles, but whether the Holy Spirit gives individuals in the church miraculous gifts in the same way that he did in the first century church during the time of the Apostles and Prophets.

My conclusion.

Setting aside the New Testament Apostles and Prophets, I don’t believe Scripture offers enough evidence to say definitively that any specific spiritual gift has ceased, but I think Scripture does offer enough evidence to support that the miraculous gifts are no longer the normal experience for believers today.

Prominent Miraculous Periods in History

Throughout all of Scripture we find evidence of the miraculous.

Often the miraculous came in the form of a prophetic word, but many other forms of miracles are present in Scripture.

While there are miracles spread throughout all of Scripture, there appears to be a few very specific moments of magnified miraculous work.

The first momentous miraculous era, Moses and the Exodus.

We see an intense period of time in which “signs and wonders” are accomplished through Moses and in the people of Israel.

Whether it is a burning bush () or the miraculous events of the ten plagues (), whether it was the supernatural deliverance from Egypt, the protection from Egyptians army, crossing the Red Sea on dry ground (), manna and water provided (), a fire and cloud to lead them (), or a host of other miraculous events, this period of time boasts an incredible amount of supernatural, miraculous events.

The second momentous miraculous era, Elijah and Elisha.

Through Elijah God stopped the rain and caused a drought ().

He multiplied flour and oil for a widow ().

He raised a widow’s son from the dead ().

He defeated the prophets of Baal with fire from heaven ().

He parted the waters of the Jordan River so that he could walk across on dry ground ().

Elisha as well parted the Jordan River.

He caused a flood to save Israel and thereby defeat the Moabites ().

He raised a child from the dead ().

He healed Naaman of leprosy ().

He struck the Arameans blind ().

There were as well a host of other miraculous events during the ministry of these two prophets.

Jesus, at the beginning of his ministry, compares his ministry to these two Old Testament prophets.

As well, the miracles that Jesus performed throughout his ministry are often likened to the miracles performed through these two prophets.

The final and most recent momentous miraculous era, Christ and the Apostolic Era.

Of course a great number of miracles occurred during the ministry of Christ and the ministries of the New Testament Apostles and Prophets.

It was said of Jesus during his ministry, that “the blind receive their sight and the lame walk, lepers are cleansed and the deaf hear, and the dead are raised up, and the poor have good news preached to them” ( ESV).

He as well sent out the Apostles “and gave them authority over unclean spirits, to cast them out, and to heal every disease and every affliction” ( ESV).

The time of Christ and the Apostles was an intense and momentous period of miraculous work.

This was a unique period of time.

Even those who believe that the gift of apostle is still for today acknowledge that the degree or manner of Apostle’s giftedness was more significant and authoritative than any time following.

Clearly it was through these apostles that the foundation of the Church was laid in the New Testament writings produced by this group and their associates.

And since this role of Apostle was clearly a spiritual gift as both and indicate, then we can say with a level of confidence that at least this specific spiritual gift has ceased from use within the church.

In this acknowledgement we can then conclude that it is possible, if not likely, that other spiritual gifts have ceased, at least with the same level of intensity or authority, as during the Apostolic era.

Miracles Throughout Scripture

The rest of Scripture includes miracles but to a lesser degree.

Miraculous events were prevalent during the time of Moses, Elijah and Elisha, Christ and the Apostles, but they were as well present at other times but to a lesser degree.

Let me remind you of just a few.

The rapture of Enoch ()

The supernatural call of Abraham () and a number of other miraculous moments throughout his life.

Angels come to Lot in Sodom and Gomorrah, the men of the city are blinded by the angels.

Sodom and Gomorrah are destroyed, Lot’s wife turns to salt.

()

Joseph’s dreams () and interpretations ().

Shamgar kills 600 Philistines with an oxgoad ().

Gideon interacts with an angel of the Lord, throws out a fleece, and defeats Midian with 300 men ().

And a host of other miraculous moments in the life of Samuel, David, and Solomon.

Isaiah experiences a number of prophetic and miraculous moments, and the life of Daniel and his three friends could likely be considered one of the more magnificent moments of miraculous intervention.

As we go through this list, we may wrongly conclude that miracles were normative for people throughout the Old Testament.

That is not the case though.

We must remember that these miracles occurred over the course of more than 6,000 years.

Miracles were not the norm for the people of God throughout the Old Testament.

Consider just the life of Daniel.

The miracles in his life extend from when he was an early teenager being taken into Babylonian Captivity with Nebuchadnezzar to when he was probably around 80 being thrown in the lion’s den with King Darius.

Even Daniel went many decades between miraculous events.

So then, the stage is set.

There are a few periods in history in which miracles are regular and prominent.

But, most of history is made up of long periods of time in which God is not directly (himself) or indirectly (through others) performing dramatic miracles.

So then, let’s consider a couple of questions.

First, what was the purpose of the miracles?

Secondly, are we in one of the momentous miraculous eras or are we part of a time when miracles are not normal?

Let’s answer the first question.

What is the purpose of miracles?

The Purpose of Miracles

What then is the purpose of these miracles?

“The primary purpose of the miracles was as signs of authentication pointing to God, his messengers or spokesmen, and their message which was the Word of God.”[1] Moses was struggling with the role God had planned for him, so God encourages him by offering him a miracle.

God tells Moses that the miracles are so that “they may believe that the Lord . . .

has appeared to you” ( ESV).

The same is true of Elijah.

As Elijah raises the widow’s son from the dead, the woman says to Elijah, “Now I know that you are a man of God, and that the word of the Lord in your mouth is truth” ( ESV).

Jesus’ ministry and role was as well affirmed through his miracles.

Nicodemus came to Jesus by night and said, “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” ( ESV).

When John the Baptist was questioning whether Jesus was truly the “one who is to come” Jesus tells John’s disciples, “Go and tell John what you have seen and heard: the blind receive their sight, the lame walk, lepers are cleansed, and the deaf hear, the dead are raised up, the poor have good news preached to them” ( ESV).

We are all directed to receive the truth of God’s salvation because “God also bore witness by signs and wonders and various miracles and by gifts of the Holy Spirit distributed according to his will” ( ESV).

Therefore, miracles have primarily been used by God to authenticate both his messenger and his divine message.

So then consider those few specific moments in history of heightened miraculous working.

Much of Scripture, specifically the giving of the Law, came from the period of Moses.

During the time of the prophets, God was reaffirming the law and speaking directly through the prophets to his people.

He authenticated their message through miraculous events.

Much of this prophetic communication was written and became significant portions of the Old Testament.

Christ is the climactic time of God’s revelation to the world.

It was through Christ and those with him that the message of salvation was offered.

Miraculous moments were present as the Gospel spread from Jerusalem to the rest of the world.

Scriptures were written concerning Christ, the early church, and the ongoing expectations for the church by the Apostles and Prophets.

Therefore, once again, God confirmed or authenticated these divine moments with supernatural and divine miracles.[2]

Miracles for Today?

The question still remains of whether or not those same gifts are to be the normal experience for today.

While I’m not going to definitively answer that question, I’m going to direct us towards some inferences.

(1) The primary purpose of supernatural gifts throughout Scripture was to validate God’s divine messenger and their message.

Those who received signs and wonders that validated their message where men who were offering new revelation.