.................................................................................................................................................
The Miracles of God in Acts
Our Daily Bread
Some
people say they don’t believe Christians should expect God to do the kind of
miracles that are recorded in the book of Acts.
Other
people are continually talking about experiencing miracles of healing.
The
literature of faith healers abounds with amazing claims.
Interestingly,
Eve Simson, a university professor of sociology, made the following statement:
“Over the years, while conducting my investigation of deliverance
evangelism, I met many individuals who testified that they had received a
miraculous cure, and I witnessed many claims to instantaneous cures at the
revival meetings. But I was not able to obtain enough proof for any of them to
convince me that they were true miracles of healing. At no time did I encounter
anyone who even testified to something like the regrowth of a severed arm or
leg” (The Faith Healer, Concordia Publishing House,
St. Louis, 1977, p.197.)
Let’s
take a look at the miracles in Acts, considering their frequency and their
purpose.
The
Frequency Of Miracles. The book of Acts records at least 20 specific miracles and
tells of 9 times when clusters of them occurred.
SPECIFIC
MIRACLES
1. Sound of rushing wind (Acts 2:2).
2. Tongues of fire (Acts 2:3).
3. Miraculous speech (Acts 2:4).
4. Lame man healed (Acts 3:1-10).
5. Building shaken (Acts 4:31).
6. Sudden death of Ananias and Sapphira (Acts 5:1-11).
7. Imprisoned apostles freed by angel (Acts 5:17-21).
8. Philip transported from desert to Azotus (Acts 8:40).
9. Light and voice at Saul’s conversion (Acts 9:1-9).
10. Saul
blinded and healed (Acts 9:8-19).
11. Aeneas
healed of paralysis (Acts 9:32-35).
12. Dorcas
restored to life (Acts 9:36-41).
13. Herod’s
violent death (Acts 12:20-23).
14. Elymas
the sorcerer blinded (Acts 13:6-11).
15. Cripple
at Lystra healed (Acts 14:8-10).
16. Demons
cast out of a slave girl (Acts 16:16-18).
17. Paul
freed from prison by earthquake (Acts 16:25-27).
18. Eutychus
raised from death (Acts 20:7-12).
19. Paul
unaffected by viper’s bite (Acts 28:3-5).
20. Father of
Publius healed (Acts 28:8).
CLUSTERS
OF MIRACLES
1. “Many wonders and signs” (Acts 2:43).
2. “Many signs and wonders” (Acts 5:12).
3. “The shadow of Peter” apparently
healed some, and “a multitude gathered… and they were all healed” (Acts 5:15-16).
4. “Stephen… did great wonders and signs” (Acts 6:8).
5. “The multitudes… heeded…, hearing and seeing the miracles which
[Philip] did” (Acts 8:6).
6. “The Lord… [granted] signs and wonders to be done by their hands” (Acts 14:3).
7. “Barnabas and Paul [declared] how many miracles and wonders God had
worked through them” (Acts 15:12).
8. “God worked unusual miracles by the hands of Paul… even handkerchiefs
or aprons” (Acts 19:11-12).
9. “The rest of those on the island who had
diseases also came and were healed” (Acts 28:9).
A Wrong
Assumption About Miracles. The fact that many
miracles occurred does not mean that every believer should always expect one
whenever he faces a problem.
God
didn’t always bring miraculous deliverance from danger and suffering to His
children.
· Peter and John arrested, imprisoned, and scourged (Acts 4:1-8; 5:22-41).
· Stephen stoned to death (Acts
6:8–7:60).
· Christians scattered through persecution (Acts 8:1-3).
· James executed (Acts 12:1-2).
· Paul stoned (Acts 14:19-20).
· Paul and Silas arrested, scourged, placed in stocks (Acts 16:22-28).
· Paul arrested and tried (Acts
chapters 21–28).
· Paul (during the Acts period) was whipped with 39 lashes 5 times,
beaten with rods 3 times, shipwrecked 3 times, adrift on the sea for 24 hours,
often sleepless, hungry, thirsty, and cold (2
Corinthians 11:22-27).
· Paul (during the Acts period) was afflicted with a “thorn in
the flesh” from which he was not delivered (2 Corinthians 12:7-10).
It is
obvious that God did not perform miracles just to make life easy and pleasant
for His children.
The
Purpose Of Miracles In Acts. God’s
primary purpose in performing miracles was to authenticate the ministry of the
apostles, just as Jesus’ miracles verified His claim to be the Son of God.
This
authenticating purpose of miracles is further indicated in the fact that they
tended to occur in clusters.
The Old
Testament records three occasions when a number of miracles occurred:
1. At the beginning of Israel’s history from the Exodus through the rule
of Judges.
2. At the beginning of the prophetic era with Elijah and Elisha.
3. At the beginning of Israel’s exile.
As noted
earlier, the gospels and the book of Acts record many miracles.
But by AD
64-68 they were no longer prevalent. The writer of Hebrews acknowledged this
when he wrote:
“How shall we escape if we neglect so great a salvation, which at the
first began to be spoken by the Lord, and was confirmed to us by those who
heard Him, God also bearing witness both with signs and wonders, with various
miracles, and gifts of the Holy Spirit, according to His own will?” (Hebrews 2:3-4).
These
verses tell us a great deal about the nature of first-century miracles and
their purpose.
They were
not quiet miracles, they were spectacular.
Using the
past tense, the writer of Hebrews described them by the use of three
significant terms:
· He called them “signs” (semeion) — visible pointers
to God’s supernatural activity.
· He called them “wonders” (teras) — works intended to
create a sense of awe and
amazement.
amazement.
· He called them “miracles” (dunamis) — mighty acts
that reveal God’s power.
Do
miracles occur today? Yes.
God
answers prayer, but these answers are not so open, obvious, and spectacular
that unbelievers admit their occurrence.
We see
very few “signs” and “wonders” today. When God answers our petitions for
healing or deliverance, He usually works in such a way that the skeptic can easily
deny that a miracle happened.
Helping
you connect with God.
Every day. Every way.
Join
our growing community for daily devotions, prayer requests, ministry updates,
upcoming events, and much more.
No comments:
Post a Comment