CESSATION OF MIRACLES

         There are many different views of miracles. Atheists, agnostics, secular humanists and radical theologians deny the possibility of miracles. If God does not exist, as atheists, agnostics and secular humanists believe, miracles are not possible. If God is not a person, as John Shelby Spong foolishly argues, miracles have not occurred and cannot occur. David Hume, the British skeptic, probably did more to destroy men's faith in the possibility of miracles than any other writer in history.  Hume did not bother to examine the evidence for any particular miracle. Since he did not believe miracles were possible, why waste time in investigating an alleged miracle?

All committed Bible believers have always accepted the possibility and the actuality of miracles. Both the Old Testament and the New record a substantial number of miracles. Without miracles, there is no Christianity. Jesus Christ performed many miracles and endorsed the miracles of the Old Testament. For example, Christ unquestionably endorsed the miraculous creation of man and woman. He asked some Pharisees: "Have you not read, that he made them at the beginning made them male and female" (Mt. 19:4)? He also endorsed the story of Jonah and the great fish (Mt. 12:40-41). In addition, he enabled the apostles to perform miracles. I shall not take the time to give you a list of apostolic miracles, but you know the New Testament records several of them.

In the beginning of our lesson today, I want you to know that I enthusiastically accept all of the miracles of the Bible, from the creation of the world to Christ's resurrection from the dead. But I also want you to understand that I just as enthusiastically reject all of the so-called "modern miracles." There are no miracles being performed today. Anyone who claims to perform miracles is deceiving his listeners and viewers. Neither Benny Hinn nor Paul Crouch nor Paula White nor Creflo Dollar is performing any miracles. I know their claims, but the claims are all fraudulent.

I raise these concerns because of an e-mail I received recently. The author of the e-mail quotes the words of one of my radio sermons which he discovered on our website: "No one has the power to do these miracles today." He then writes: "And yet the Bible, when the apostles showed awe and reverence for the miracles that Christ displayed, we hear the Master replying, 'Why do you wonder at the miracles I perform? You, too, can do these, and more, if you just believe.'" The e-mail then suggests that I need to study the Bible. He says, "It's that simple." I do not claim any special ability or knowledge, but I have spent my whole life studying the Bible. I have taught the Bible on the university level and have preached the Bible for more than sixty-four years. But I learn something new every time I open my Bible. I hope and pray that I shall always be devoted to the study of God's word.

What does the Bible teach us about modern miracles? I have read the books of the Pentecostal preachers who defend modern miracles, but they seem to interpret the Bible for their own benefit. Not one of them has proved nor can he prove the validity of modern miracles. In fact, they report on the most outlandish events one can imagine. For example, one popular television evangelist says he was present with A. A. Allen when Allen healed a young man in Africa. The young man could not speak nor see and was born without feet. Allen supposedly passed his hands over the young man's head and enabled him to see, to speak and to grow feet. I have trouble believing the man who reported the miracle is honest. One hesitates to say this, but the man is either deceived or he is deceiving.

A. A. Allen was not exactly the kind of man God would use to perform miracles. Michael's G. Moriarty's book, The New Charismatics: A Concerned Voice Responds to Dangerous Trends (Grand Rapids: ZondervanPublishingHouse, 1992), furnishes some very disturbing information about A. A. Allen. "In the fall of 1955, he was forced to withdraw from public ministry after being arrested for drunken driving while in a revival in Knoxville, Tennessee... In 1970 Allen died of sclerosis of the liver" (pp. 35-36) Moriarty reports that A. A. Allen claimed to have had a $410 printing bill he could not pay. All he had were a few one-dollar bills in his pocket. But as he prayed the one-dollar bills were changed to twenties (p. 38). Moriarty's book is devastating to all modern miracle workers.

Incidentally, churches of Christ are not the only group in the United States that maintains that miracles have ceased. A number of other religiously conservative bodies take the same position. Dr. Benjamin Warfield of Princeton Theological Seminary published a book with the title, Counterfeit Miracles. Dr. Warfield proved that miracles have ceased. I plan to examine the Bible's teaching on "The Cessation of Miracles." In fact, I plan to do what my correspondent asked: Study the Bible.

Have you ever wondered how those early preachers prepared their lessons for churches in Corinth or in Ephesus or in Philippi? They did not have New Testaments because the New Testament had not been written. They could not use the Old Testament because it has been abrogated. The message of the Old Testament did not apply to the church of the living God. The early preachers, like Paul, Peter and John, were diligent students of the Old Testament, as their writings attest, but where in the Old Testament would they have learned the facts concerning the church's establishment on the day of Pentecost, what men and women had to do to be saved, what the church ought to be doing to evangelize the world? The Old Testament had many prophecies about the coming King and his kingdom, about the moral values Christians had to observe, but it did not give the facts of Christ's death, his resurrection, his atoning sacrifice, his great miracles and his coming at the end of the age for his children. Where did these preachers learn the facts of the gospel and the doctrines based on those facts?

Modern preachers take their Bibles-especially their New Testaments-and fashion their sermons on the vital truths of Christianity. But Peter, James and John could not to that. 0 I know that the apostles were with Christ during his personal ministry. They heard his parables, witnessed many of his miracles and knew he was raised from the dead, but, like other human beings, they did not always understand what he said and what he did. They also had a tendency to forget what they had seen. So our Lord promised them the supernatural guidance of the Holy Spirit. "But the Comforter, who is the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, he shall teach you all things, and bring all things to your remembrance, whatsoever I have said unto you" (John 14:26). "Howbeit, when he the Spirit of truth is come, he will guide you into all truth; for he shall not speak of himself; but whatsoever he shall hear, that shall he speak: and he will show you things to come" (John 16:13).

If modern Charismatics have the ability to perform supernatural feats, why do they need to read and to study their Bibles? A preacher friend of mine told me about a conversation with a Charismatic preacher who claimed to have the direct operation of God's Holy Spirit. My friend asked him to read the list of names in Romans 16. He could not even pronounce those names. Is it not strange that the Holy Spirit could not pronounce the names in the book he inspired? The truth is: The only person in the world who speaks by the direction of the Holy Spirit is the one who preaches the Holy Spirit's word--the Bible. Those who claim to have the direct operation of the Holy Spirit are either deceiving themselves or deliberately deceiving others.

In the early church, there were numerous men who spoke for God. These men were called "prophets." In fact, the greatest gift in the early church was prophecy. "Follow after love," Paul instructed the Corinthians, "and desire spiritual gifts, but rather that you may prophesy" (1 Cor. 14: 1). Paul later said in the same chapter: "Wherefore, brethren, covet to prophesy, and forbid not to speak in tongues" (l Cor. 14:39). Initially, as the prophets spoke, the people could only know in part, but when God's will was completed, men could know God's full will. The knowing in part and the prophesying in part referred to the supernatural gifts, but both gifts would cease when they were no longer needed. Since we have God's inspired, complete and final revelation in the Bible, why would we need miraculous knowledge? If we needed these miraculous gifts, would that not indicate that the Bible needs some additional books or chapters?

Everybody who has spent much time studying spiritual gifts will almost certainly agree that the crucial text in our discussion is 1 Corinthians 13: 10 which reads: "But when that which is perfect is come, then that which is in part shall be done away." The key word in this text is the word "perfect" (teleion). What did Paul mean by the word "perfect?" The meaning of the word "perfect" can be discerned by contrasting it with the expression, "that which is in part." Paul has already given us insight into the meaning of "in part." He said: "We know in part and we prophesy in part" (1 Cor. 13:9). There can be no doubt in verse 9 about the meaning of the expression, "in part." It has to refer to God's revelation which was in the process of being completed.

The word "perfect" (teleion) is a predicate adjective, that is, it is an adjective used as a noun. But what is its significance in this context? Let me review some of the interpretations that have been given to the word. There are some who believe the word applies to Christ and refers to the Lord's second coming. But there is a serious problem with that explanation. The word "that" is neuter gender-not masculine. The verse does not say, "When he who is perfect is come"; it says, "When that which is perfect is come." He is speaking of the completion of God's will. Others think Paul was predicting Christ's earthly reign. But the Bible does not teach a premillennial reign of Christ on earth.

Generally speaking, our Pentecostal and neo-Pentecostal friends take one of these positions. They believe miracles will not cease until Christ returns and establishes his earthly kingdom. The word of God does not support either of these views. I am not arguing that the adherents to these views are dishonest--I certainly do not believe that-- but I am insisting that some other interpretation must be found. I must also say in passing that Jesus Christ will not someday sit on David's throne. He is already sitting on David's throne (Acts 2:29-36).

The word "perfect" means God's completed revelation of his will in the Bible.  My question to you is this: Do we have in the Bible all we need to serve God and our fellowmen? Two biblical passages are very important in answering this question. Please listen carefully to these passages. "All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, and for instruction in righteousness: that the man of God may be perfect, thoroughly furnished unto all good works" (2 Tim. 3:   16-17). Can you think of anything we need not covered by the expressions, "doctrine (or teaching), reproof, correction and instruction in righteousness?" If the word of God furnishes us thoroughly (or completely) unto all good works, what else does God need to tell us? Has God failed to give us all the information we need to be saved and to stay saved? The Apostle Peter adds: by his divine power, God has "given unto us all things pertaining to life and godliness, through the knowledge of him who has called us to glory and virtue" (2 Pet. 1:3). How much is missing from "all things pertaining to life and godliness?"

I do not have time today to discuss all the purposes for which the Lord and his apostles performed miracles. But I ask you to meditate on two passages. The author of Hebrews asked: "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 who heard him; God also bearing them witness, both with signs and wonders, and with different miracles, and gifts of the Holy Spirit, according to his will" (Heb. 2:3-4)? What was the purpose of the spectacular miracles on Pentecost? Were they not to prove to the Jews that Peter and the other apostles were really God's spokesmen? How else could he Jews know that Peter was truly speaking for God? If the miracles had not confirmed the word of the apostles, the Jews might have thought the apostles were inventing their message. That did happen in ancient times and still occurs.

The gospel according to John contains some powerful miracles. Jesus performed his first miracle at a wedding feast in Cana of Galilee. When the wine ran out at the feast Jesus turned water into wine (John 2:1-11). John also recorded the miracle of Christ's multiplying loaves and fish (John 6:1-14). The most spectacular miracle in the book of John, with the exception of Christ's resurrection, was the raising of Lazarus (John 11:1-46). We know of the great compassion Jesus had for suffering humanity, but was that his only reason for performing miracles? Please listen carefully to the Apostle John. "And many other signs truly did Jesus in the presence of his disciples that are not written in this book: but these are written that you might believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God; and that believing you might have life through his name" (John 20:30-31).

Since the miracles were designed primarily to confirm God's word, must we have additional miracles to confirm the word? If we must have continuing miracles, the word of God was not sufficiently confirmed by the miracles Christ and his apostles performed. And here is a problem for so-called "modern miracle workers." If miracles were designed to confirm the word, what about the teaching of some of the groups that claim to have miraculous gifts? If you listen to the preachers on Trinity Broadcasting Network and on the Inspiration Channel, you know how different the messages are from different preachers. Which of the messages are the miracles supposed to confirm? Do you believe God would enable men and women to perform miracles when the messages of those men and women are contrary to scripture? How could God confirm the words of the prosperity preachers when their words contradict God's words as revealed in the Bible? The truth is very simple but undeniable: No one has the power to perform miracles in our day--no one.

There is one other item in the e-mail that I must discuss briefly. He tells me that I must study the Bible. He then says: "It's simple. Like who brought evil into the world for us, so that we would suffer. God himself brought it into the world. How do I know? Because it says so in the Bible." He then quoted these words from Isaiah 45:7: "I form the light, and create darkness: I make peace and create evil: I the Lord do all things." He also quoted Amos 3:6: "Shall a trumpet be blown in the city, and the people not be afraid? Shall there be evil in a city, and the Lord has not done it?" The English Standard Version more correctly translates the Hebrew in Amos 3:6: "Is a trumpet blown in a city, and the people are not afraid? Does disaster not come to a city, unless the Lord has done it?"

Does the author of this e-mail believe God brought moral evil into the world? Would that not make God responsible for adultery, lying, murder and other immoral thoughts and activities? Whatever the meaning of the two passages he used, you know God is not the instigator of evil. If he were, how could he hold us accountable for doing evil? Has the author of the e-mail ever read these words: "Let no man say when he is tempted, I am tempted of God: for God cannot be tempted with evil, neither does he tempt any man: but every man is tempted, when he is drawn away of his own lust and enticed" (Jas. 1:13-14).

There is not even the slightest doubt, from a scriptural viewpoint, that God has brought disasters or calamities on cities and nations because of their rebellion against him. Why did God send a universal flood on the people in Noah's day? Why did he allow the Roman army to completely destroy the city of Jerusalem? He sends disasters on cities and nations to punish them for their wickedness and, in some cases, to awaken them to impending doom. The Psalmist affirmed: "For thou art not a God who has pleasure in wickedness: neither shall evil dwell with thee" (Psa. 5:4).

It borders on blasphemy to teach that God brought evil into the world. God almighty is the author of good-not of evil.

Winford Claiborne

The International Gospel Hour

P.O. Box 118

Fayetteville, TN 37334