Sign Gifts / Part 2

Series –March 2018 – Grace & Truth Magazine

Sign Gifts / Part Two
Miracles, Signs, Wonders And Healings

Having considered last month what the Bible teaches about the gift and use of tongues, it is good for us to also search to see what is taught about miracles, healings and other miraculous activities as found in Scripture. The gifts of tongues and healing are referred to as “sign gifts,” meaning an extraordinary method to make known that God was working in a new and special way.

We saw in last month’s article that the gift of tongues was something new after Pentecost, the forming of the Church, but this is not so with healings. The Lord Himself healed many people during His time on earth, and He also sent out His disciples who healed others (Mk. 6:7,12-13). The purpose of going out was to preach the gospel of the kingdom – a gospel warning people that their Messiah had come and they needed to repent and receive Him. The miracles proved that He had come with power and authority, but the people’s hearts were blinded, and they did not recognize their Messiah. Rather than coming with a great display of power and majesty to set up His kingdom and release His people from the bondage of the Romans, their Messiah had come in a lowly manner, without force, pomp and ceremony. He was born in a simple stable.

Some time after John the Baptist had so eloquently, correctly and clearly identified the Lord as the Messiah, he became confused and doubted. John was in prison; things had not gone as he expected, and he questioned in his heart whether this Man Jesus truly was their Messiah. The Lord answered John’s doubt by saying that not only the gospel was being preached, but many wonderful signs were also being done, proving that He was the promised Messiah (Mt. 11:2-5). This proof was reiterated by Peter at Pentecost: “Ye men of Israel, hear these words; Jesus of Nazareth, a man approved of God among you by miracles and wonders and signs, which God did by Him in the midst of you, as ye yourselves also know ... Therefore let all the house of Israel know assuredly, that God hath made that same Jesus, whom ye have crucified, both Lord and Christ” (Acts 2:22,36 KJV).

Israel’s rejection of their Messiah did not change the facts: The miracles and wonders that the Lord had done were to identify and demonstrate to an unbelieving people that Jesus was their Messiah. Since they rejected their Messiah, God then began to deal with man in a different way – no longer on the basis of keeping the law, but on grace. Salvation is offered to all who believe on Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior, through His complete and finished work. The Lord Jesus died on the cross, was raised from the dead and is now exalted in heaven – seated on God’s throne at His right hand.

This way of salvation was something new and radical, and it was difficult for the Jews to understand and accept. Therefore, to illustrate that this was God’s work, the gospel being preached was confirmed by the demonstration of His power in healing and doing many wonderful, extraordinary things.

In Jerusalem
After the Lord ascended in the clouds, the first wonder we read of in Acts is when Peter and those assembled together with him spoke in tongues, declaring the wonderful works of God. Peter also preached the gospel. This event was a sign for the unbelieving Jews that God was at work (see 1 Cor. 14:21-22). Many believed and were baptized, and they continued together steadfastly in the apostles doctrine, fellowship, the Lord’s Supper and prayer. Then we read that “fear came upon every soul, and many wonders and signs were done through the apostles” (Acts 2:43).

The second time that we read of a miracle after the ascension is when Peter and John went to the temple. At the gate of the temple they encountered a man who had been lame since birth. They healed him in the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth – the name of the despised, rejected Messiah. Many were filled with wonder and amazement at the miracle of healing, and Peter used the opportunity to preach the gospel to them. A large number of the people believed. When questioned by the religious leaders the next day, Peter once again declared the same name by whom the man had been healed: Jesus Christ of Nazareth. The apostle sought no glory for himself; all was to go to the Lord. Is this the same attitude that we see in those who say they heal today?

The next recorded miracle is a judgment from God, found in Acts 5. Ananias and Sapphira’s lie to God resulted in their deaths. After this account we read multiple acts of miracles and healing of the sick, in very extraordinary ways (vv.12-16). In it all, many were added to the Lord (v.14).

The events concerning Stephen – his service, arrest, hearing and execution – were an important turning point. Stephen, in his exhortation, told the Jewish people that they had rejected God in many ways during their history and were once again rejecting Him (7:51). By stoning Stephen, God’s witness to them, they rejected the Holy Spirit openly and decisively. From this point on we never read of any of the sign gifts – tongues, miracles or healings – being done in Jerusalem. God had given them a chance, speaking through miracles and wonders, but they still rejected Him.

The only other miracle that we read about happening in Jerusalem is in Acts 12, when Herod had Peter arrested with the intent of executing him. An angel, however, freed Peter from prison. All of the details of this incident were generally unknown to unbelievers except Herod, the guards and those directly involved. Therefore, we see this as a special intervention by God for His servant rather than a sign occurrence.

In Samaria
“Then Philip went down to the city of Samaria, and preached Christ unto them. And the people with one accord gave heed unto those things which Philip spake, hearing and seeing the miracles which he did. For unclean spirits, crying with loud voice, came out of many that were possessed with them: and many taken with palsies, and that were lame, were healed” (8:5-7). It was the first time that they heard the gospel of Christ, and God confirmed these words with signs and wonders.

Hearing of the work of the Lord in Samaria, Peter and John went there. The people, having only been baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus, had not yet received the Holy Spirit, so Peter and John prayed that they might receive Him. When the two apostles laid hands on the believers, they received the Holy Spirit. The Lord had given Peter the keys to the kingdom, and He used him at Pentecost in Jerusalem. Now he was being used of Him in Samaria.

In Acts 9 the Lord dealt with Saul of Tarsus in a very special way, not in Jerusalem but in the Damascus area. God smote him with blindness. Saul, repentant, prayed and was freed of his blindness by the laying on of hands by a faithful follower of the Lord.

At the end of chapter 9, Peter continued preaching the gospel in Samaria. Coming to Lydda, near Joppa, Peter encountered a man who had been bedridden for eight years. He healed this man with the result that many turned to the Lord. The same occurred when Peter went to Joppa and raised a certain disciple, Dorcas, from the dead. Many believed on the Lord when this news spread.

To The End Of The Earth
Later, in Acts 10, Peter preached the gospel to Cornelius, his family and friends. All of them were Gentiles. When they believed, the Holy Spirit came upon them, and they spoke in tongues. Peter was once again the instrument used, and the results were the same for all three groups. This prevented independency or pride. The Jews could not think themselves better than the Samaritans – as they had done before – or the Gentiles. The Samaritans also saw this work of God was through a Jew, Peter, so they could not hold an independent attitude as to the Jews. It was the same for the Gentiles. In this wonderful way, God showed the oneness and interdependency of the Body by using the same instrument, Peter, and gave the Holy Spirit in the same way to each of the three groups.

Several years later, Barnabas and Saul (known later as Paul) went on their first mission trip. They preached the gospel when they came to Cyprus. In a city called Paphos, a sorcerer attempted to turn people away from the Lord. Saul, full of the Holy Spirit, smote the sorcerer with blindness, and the person to whom they were preaching, astonished at the teaching of the Lord, was saved.

From there they traveled to Perga and then Antioch in Pisidia, where they preached with power to both Jews and Gentiles. Many believed and the message spread throughout the entire region, but there is no further mention of signs or miracles being done in that area.

Opposition was raised by the hardened Jews, and Barnabas and Paul were expelled from the region. So they continued on their way and arrived at Iconium, where they again preached the gospel and a great multitude believed. “They stayed there a long time, speaking boldly in the Lord, who was bearing witness to the word of His grace, granting signs and wonders to be done by their hands” (Acts 14:3). The Lord granted that signs and wonders be done, using Barnabas and Paul as instruments, only after the word had been preached.

When there arose a violent attempt to harm Barnabas and Paul, they fled the city and came to Lystra, preaching the gospel there. Encountering a man who had been a cripple from birth, Paul commanded him to stand up, and the man leaped and walked (14:8-10). The people who witnessed this were astounded and wanted to make sacrifices to them, but Barnabas and Paul prevented them from doing so.

A short while later, some from the region of Iconium came and agitated the multitude against Paul and Barnabas to such an extent that they stoned Paul, trying to kill him, but God miraculously saved him from death. The next day Paul and Barnabas left the city and made their way back to Antioch, from where they had originally been sent out. They did so by stopping at all the cities they had visited earlier, preaching the gospel and building up the believers – encouraging them to remain faithful in the Lord. In the revisiting of all of these groups, we do not read of any miracles, signs or wonders being done (vv.20-28)

After a time of rest, Paul returned with Silas to many of the places he had visited previously (15:40–16:5). This is recorded without any mention of signs and miracles. In Troas, the Lord revealed to Paul that they should go to a new area, Macedonia, so immediately they went there. Arriving at Philippi, the principal city of that region, they preached the gospel and some were saved. They stayed there for a time and others were saved. The only miracle that was done in Philippi was the casting out of a demon from a poor servant girl.

Acts 17-18 tells us that from Philippi, Paul travelled to Thessalonica, Berea, Athens, Corinth (where he stayed a year and a half) and Ephesus, before returning to Antioch by way of Caesarea and Jerusalem. He preached the gospel and taught the Word of God in all these places. Many believed, but it is important to note that there is no mention of signs, wonders or miracles.

After spending some time in Antioch with the believers, Paul “departed and went over all the regions of Galatia and Phrygia in order, strengthening all the disciples” (18:23), ending in Ephesus. He had been there before, but only for a short period of time. With this visit he stayed for two years, so all who dwelt in Asia heard the Word. God worked unusual miracles by the hand of Paul so that even handkerchiefs or aprons were brought from his body to the sick, and the diseases left them and the evil spirits went out of them. Paul’s time in Ephesus brought great conviction to many who were then saved. Those who had been involved in magic brought and burned their related books, the value of which was calculated at 50,000 pieces of silver. Clearly this was a great work of God in the heart of many.

After leaving Ephesus, Paul traveled through Macedonia, encouraging various ones along his way. Leaving Greece, where he had stayed for three months, he went to Troas. While in Troas a young man fell from a third floor window “and was taken up dead” (20:9). Paul fell on him and embraced him. Life was restored to the young man, and those there were greatly comforted. This is the last recorded act of miraculous intervention on God’s part until the last chapter of Acts. There Paul was unaffected by a venomous snake, and a number of people were healed from various diseases. But that was in Malta, a place, as far as we know, where the gospel had never been spoken before.

Points To Notice
As we read through the book of Acts we notice several things. We see that miracles, signs and wonders were done by the Lord through His disciples. Remember, the Lord Himself had ascended into heaven. These incredible things were done in a mighty noticeable way, particularly in Jerusalem, to show the unbelieving Jews that God was working in a very special way.

In other areas where the gospel was being preached, there were signs and miracles. These were to confirm the message that was being spoken. About this, Paul said, “... That I should be the minister of Jesus Christ to the Gentiles, ministering the gospel of God, that the offering up of the Gentiles might be acceptable, being sanctified by the Holy Ghost. I have therefore whereof I may glory through Jesus Christ in those things which pertain to God. For I will not dare to speak of any of those things which Christ hath not wrought by me, to make the Gentiles obedient, by word and deed, through mighty signs and wonders, by the power of the Spirit of God; so that from Jerusalem, and round about unto Illyricum, I have fully preached the gospel of Christ. Yea, so have I strived to preach the gospel, not where Christ was named, lest I should build upon another man’s foundation” (Rom. 15:16-20, italics added for emphasis). We see signs and miracles happening in Jerusalem, in Samaria and in a number of places where the gospel was preached for the first time. But on subsequent visits to areas where the gospel had been established, generally no signs, wonders or miracles are mentioned. Thus, as the gospel extends over a region, these signs and miracles ceased.

In the first part of Acts, signs and miracles were prevalent. Progressing through Acts, they diminished more and more until they were almost no longer present.

All the miracles and wonders were applied to unbelievers, not to believers, with only four possible exceptions:

• Saul (Paul) received sight again after his conversion,
• Peter was liberated from prison,
• The disciple Dorcas from Joppa was raised from the dead, and
• The young man in Troas, Eutychus, who fell from the third floor window and was taken up alive, may or may not have been a believer.

It is interesting to notice that Paul had friends or fellow workers who were sick, yet he never healed them. “I supposed it necessary to send to you Epaphroditus, my brother, and companion in labour, and fellow soldier, but your messenger, and he that ministered to my wants. For he longed after you all, and was full of heaviness, because that ye had heard that he had been sick. For indeed he was sick nigh unto death: but God had mercy on him; and not on him only, but on me also, lest I should have sorrow upon sorrow. I sent him therefore the more carefully, that, when ye see him again, ye may rejoice, and that I may be the less sorrowful. Receive him therefore in the Lord with all gladness; and hold such in reputation: Because for the work of Christ he was nigh unto death, not regarding his life, to supply your lack of service toward me” (Phil. 2:25-30).

Rather than healing Timothy, Paul told him “Drink no longer water, but use a little wine for thy stomach’s sake and thine often infirmities” (1 Tim. 5:23).

And once again: “Erastus abode at Corinth: but Trophimus have I left at Miletum sick” (2 Tim. 4:20). Paul had not healed Trophimus.

In several letters written by James and John, rather than doing miracles and healings, the writers admonished that prayer be made for the sick.

Concluding Thoughts
Without a doubt, the Lord used signs and miracles. But the message today is what we see in Hebrews 2:1-4: “Therefore we ought to give the more earnest heed to the things which we have heard, lest at any time we should let them slip. For if the word spoken by angels was steadfast, and every transgression and disobedience received a just recompense of reward; how shall we escape, if we neglect so great salvation; which at the first began to be spoken by the Lord, and was confirmed unto us by them that heard him; God also bearing them witness, both with signs and wonders, and with divers miracles, and gifts of the Holy Ghost, according to His own will?”

We must give heed to the things we hear, the Word of God, the gospel. It was confirmed by signs, wonders and various miracles – and it is true. Today we have the faithful witness of God; we need nothing more.

By Albert Blok

This concludes this Series.

Among the miraculous gifts at Corinth was one called, “discerning of spirits” (1 Cor. 12:10). Had that gift been revived we should not see so many carried away by these modern crazes. A word for us today is, “Brethren, be not children in understanding: howbeit in malice be ye children but in understanding be men” (14:20). —F. B. Hole