Miracles

GIFTS OF THE HOLY SPIRIT
MIRACLES
DR. JIM DIXON
NOVEMBER 5, 2000
1 CORINTHIANS 12:27

Moses brought ten plagues upon the land of Egypt. He parted the Red Sea so that the children of God could cross as if upon dry land. He struck the rock at Meribah, and water gushed forth supernaturally. Elijah multiplied a bowl of flour and a jar of oil. He raised the dead. He called down fire and rain from heaven. Elisha asked for a double portion of Elijah’s power. With that double portion, he raised the dead. He purified poisonous food. He caused iron to float on water. Daniel, by the power of God, stilled the mouths of lions. Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego, by that same power, passed through fire unscathed.

All of these biblical events relate to the realm of the miraculous, and some of them involve miracle workers. But, of course, there has never been a miracle worker like our Lord Jesus Christ. He raised from the dead the widow’s son in the village of Nain. By His power, He raised from the dead the daughter of a Galilean synagogue ruler. He raised Lazarus from the dead. He offers to raise you from the dead by the power that will enable Him to subject all things to Himself. He calmed the sea. He rebuked the wind. He walked on water. He transformed water to wine. He fed 5,000 people with two fish and five loaves of bread. He is the greatest of miracle workers.

Jesus has given gifts to His Church, including the gift of miracle working. This is, I think, the most rare of all of the gifts of the Holy Spirit that God gives to us as Christians. The gift of miracles is different than the gift of healing. Certainly, divine healing is miraculous. There’s a sense in which all of the gifts of the Holy Spirit are miraculous. But, you see, the Bible distinguishes between the gift of healing and the gift of miracle working. The gift of miracle working generally refers to mastery over nature and the elements.

This morning, as we look at this gift of miracle working, I have three teachings. These three teachings are based on the three Greek words used in the New Testament for “miracle.” The first Greek word is “teras.” This Greek word “teras” means “wonder.” A miracle is a wonder. Our English word “miracle” comes from the Latin “miraculum.” And that word literally means “wonder.” In the Latin Vulgate Bible, the word “miraculum” is used to translate the Greek word “teras.” A miracle is a wonder. This, of course, refers to the human reaction when witnessing or experiencing the miraculous. Our reaction is to wonder. It brings awe.

In the year 1666, in London, England, there was a great fire. The great London fire destroyed much of the city of London, including 87 of London’s churches. Fifty-five of those 87 churches in London were rebuilt by the world-famous architect Sir Christopher Wren. This included St. Paul’s Cathedral. The year was 1675 when Christopher Wren laid the foundation stone for the rebuilding of St. Paul’s Cathedral in London. It took him 35 years to rebuild that cathedral. St. Paul’s Cathedral was completed in 1710. When the cathedral was finished, Sir Christopher Wren invited Queen Anne (the first monarch of the United Kingdom of Great Britain, established in 1707) to come and see the finished product. She came, and she looked at St. Paul’s Cathedral. She said, “Christopher, it’s awful. It’s artificial, and it’s amusing.”

After 35 years of labor, most of us wouldn’t want to hear those words; but Christopher Wren was very pleased. He couldn’t have been more pleased, because in 1710, those words had different meanings than they have today. You see, the word “amusing” in the year 1710 meant, “amazing”—something so great it boggled the mind, something so great it caused the mind to muse. “Amusing” meant “amazing.” In 1710, the word “artificial” referred to an “artistic masterpiece.” In 1710, the word “awful” had the opposite meaning that it has today. In 1710, the word “awful” meant, “full of awe.” It meant exactly the same as our word “wonderful”—that which causes you to wonder, that which causes you to have awe. It meant the same as our word “awesome” today. It is true that when the Queen looked at St. Paul’s Cathedral in 1710, she experienced wonder. She experienced awe. It was awful! It was full of awe! That’s true today. If you go to St. Paul’s Cathedral, you experience a certain measure of wonder.

There are some things like that even in the world of manmade things. Certain things give us wonder. Even in the natural world there are things that give us wonder. I mean, water is a wonder. Water is two parts hydrogen, one part oxygen. Hydrogen is flammable; oxygen burns readily. But you combine them, and you have something that puts out fires. That’s a wonder. Salt is a wonder. It consists of sodium, and it consists of chloride. Sodium is poisonous to the human body; chloride is poisonous to the human body. But you combine them, and you’ve got something indispensable to the human body. The human body could not exist without salt. The alnico magnet is an incredible wonder. It consists of aluminum, nickel, and cobalt. Aluminum is not magnetic; neither are nickel or cobalt. But you combine them, and you have the most powerful magnet on earth, able to pull 60 times its weight.

These are wonders. But they’re from the natural world. The wonder of the natural world pales when compared to the wonder of the supernatural world. Miracles are from the supernatural world. They cause unparalleled wonder. I mean, we stand in awe. When Jesus calmed the wind and when He rebuked the sea, the disciples themselves said, “Who is this? Who is this that even the wind and the sea obey Him? Who is this?” When He walked on water and then got into the boat, the disciples fell down and worshipped Him. If we were there, we would have done the same thing. We would have fallen down and worshipped Him because it was supernatural. He had just walked on water. We would have been in awe at this wonder.

There are some people in this world who just don’t want to embrace wonders. They don’t want to embrace the supernatural. Thomas Jefferson, the third president of the United States, was like that. He was really a product of the European Enlightenment. He based all truths on logic and reason. He just could not embrace the supernatural. And so, when he edited his own Bible—today called the Jeffersonian Bible—he scripted out all the miraculous. He scripted out every single miracle in the Bible. He scripted it out because he just couldn’t embrace the wondrous, the supernatural.

If you’re a Christian, and you’ve become a child of God, you’ve got to embrace the wondrous, the awe of miracles. We have a supernatural God. He works miracles, and they cause wonder.

The second Greek word in the Bible for “miracle” is the word “dunamis.” The word “dunamis” is the word from which we get the English word “dynamite.” Of course, in biblical times, there was no such thing as dynamite. The word “dunamis” was the biblical word for “power.” It was the Greek word primarily referring to supernatural power. “Dunamis, ” “supernatural power.” If the word “teras” describes our reaction to a miracle, the word “dunamis” describes the source of a miracle. A miracle requires supernatural power.

In the physical universe, there’s nothing more mysterious than a quasar. The word “quasar” is a shortened form of the word “quasi-stellar.” “Quasi-stellar” means “star like.” That’s what scientists and astronomers once thought of quasars. They thought they were like stars. In fact, there was time when astronomers and scientists believed that quasars were just unusual stars. But today, scientists understand that quasars are far more mysterious than that. The average quasar is not like a star at all.

The average quasar is the size of our solar system. The average quasar has power that’s difficult to fathom. The average quasar has a trillion times more power than our sun; it emits a trillion times more energy than the sun. That’s amazing because the sun emits more energy in one second than mankind has used in the history of the world. That’s how powerful the sun is. Yet, a quasar is a trillion times more powerful than the sun. A quasar emits a thousand times more energy than our entire Milky Way Galaxy. Can you fathom that? A thousand times more energy comes from a quasar than the entire galaxy in which we live.

According to their red shift, quasars are amongst the most distant objects in space. Some of them are 12 to 16 billion light years away. Scientists believe that when they look at a quasar, they’re actually looking at something that was happening 12 to 16 billion years ago, and the light is just now reaching us. They believe that quasars are related to giant black holes and the birthing of new galaxies and galactic systems far, far away and long, long ago. Mysterious.

But, you see, all the power of a quasar is not sufficient to work a miracle. There’s not enough power in a quasar to raise the dead. There’s not enough power in a quasar to transform water to wine. The transformation of water to wine requires a change at the molecular level that’s just not natural. You see, a quasar operates in accordance with natural laws. It operates, it functions, in accordance with the laws of physics. But a miracle transcends natural law, at least our understanding of natural law. A miracle has to do with the supernatural, and it takes supernatural power to work a miracle.

I believe God works miracles in every generation. I believe God is still working miracles today. I think it’s undeniable that there have been periods of history where God has poured forth His divine power for special episodes of miracle working. I believe there were at least four such periods. The first was 3,300 years ago during the time of Moses. It was a critical time with the birthing of the nation of Israel. The second period of unusual miracle working was 2,800 years ago during the time of Elijah and Elisha. That was a critical time when the children of Israel were beginning to go astray and wander into idolatry. The third period was 2,500 years ago in the time of Daniel, another critical period when the Jewish people were in Babylonian exile. The fourth period was, of course, the time of our Lord Jesus Christ and the following time of the Apostles. It was a critical period when the birth of the Church was taking place.

I believe God is always a miracle working God, but there are periods of history where He pours out miracle power in unusual ways. The Bible says the end times are going to be such a period. It’s going to be signs and wonders. The Bible reminds us that while all of these miracles of the end times will be supernatural, they will not all be divine. You see, there are fallen supernatural powers of darkness. That’s what the Bible tells us. In the last days, the Antichrist will arise. The Bible says that he will perform signs and wonders. He will be a miracle worker, and that will take supernatural power; but it won’t be the power of God. It will be fallen demonic power. So, we need discernment. Test the spirits of see whether they are of God.

So, miracles. We see the word “teras.” Miracles are wonders. We see the word “dunamis,” supernatural power, either holy or fallen. Then finally, the Greek word “semeion” is a word meaning “sign.” The Bible refers to miracles as signs. A miracle points to something beyond itself.

One of the most controversial passages in the Bible is found at the very end of Mark’s gospel, Mark 16:9-20. The reason those verses at the end of Mark’s gospel are so controversial with regard to biblical scholarship is because many Bible scholars are not sure that those verses should be in the Bible. Some of the earliest manuscripts do not include those verses. Some do. Some don’t. That’s why, in your Bible, some of your translations will include Mark 16:9-20. Some of your Bibles won’t include those verses, and your book of Mark just ends at Mark 16:8. Some of your Bibles include Mark 16:9-20 but only in a footnote since it’s a controversial passage.

Mark 16:9-20 is controversial, not only in terms of the early manuscripts, but also in terms of its content. This passage of Scripture tells us that the Church of Jesus Christ, as it goes forth into the world, will be a miracle-working church. As the Church of Jesus Christ goes forth into the world, these signs will attend believers: they will speak in unknown tongues. They will lay their hands on the sick, and they will be healed. They will cast out demons. They will be able to drink poisonous drink and not be hurt. They will touch poisonous snakes and not be harmed. A miracle-working church.

The scholarly world is divided about this passage of Scripture, but they agree on one thing: Mark 16:20 is a beautiful description of what miracles are all about. It says in Mark 16:20 that the Church will go forth working miracles as signs to enhance, endorse, or accompany the message of the gospel. These signs are to confirm the gospel message. Miracles are “semeion,” signs which point to the authenticity and the credibility of the gospel of Jesus Christ. These are divine miracles, not miracles from demonic powers.

The truth is that we still see miracle working today when the gospel goes forth into pioneer territories. Our son Drew comes home Tuesday night from India. We have three missionaries in India that we as a church are working with and support. I’ve talked with all three of these missionaries. They’ve all told me miracle-working stories. As the gospel has gone forth into pioneer regions of India to unreached people groups, the gospel has been attended by miracle working. This isn’t only true in India. We’re hearing this from missionaries in many, many parts of the world. As the gospel goes forth into unreached people groups, miracles are performed confirming and authenticating the message of the gospel.

Oftentimes, as the gospel goes forth into a new territory, it goes forth initially with miracle working. Once the gospel is established, the miracles cease. I mean, that’s just been the pattern throughout history. The gift of miracles and the gift of miracle working are oftentimes associated with the apostolic office and with the missionary office. So, the gift is given as a sign, “semeion,” pointing to the credibility of the gospel.

I was driving my car on Colorado Boulevard and Arapahoe Road just two days ago. I drove past the Salvation Army Church there. There was a billboard out front. The billboard said, “If you’re looking for a sign from God, this is it.” It’s true that the word “semeion” in Modern Greek is used of billboards. That’s how the word is used today. It’s used to describe billboards. Billboards advertise. Billboards announce. And, you see, that’s what miracles do. They advertise the gospel. They announce the gospel. They confirm the credibility of Christ. That’s what they’re for.

We’re not to get preoccupied with the miracles themselves because they’re just “semeion.” They’re just signs. We’re not to be preoccupied with the miracles, but with what they point to. I mean, how strange it would be if you were driving along the highway and you saw a Holiday Inn billboard advertising a Holiday Inn 15 miles away, and then you saw a family with their suitcases camping out right by the sign. That would make no sense at all because the sign is pointing to the hotel that they’re to go to. It directs them to something beyond itself. When people just focus on miracles, they’re missing the point. Miracles are billboards announcing something more important; and what’s more important is Jesus Christ. What’s more important is the message of Christ. What’s more important is the gospel of Christ.

So, you may ask for the gift of miracle working. You may desire that gift. It’s appropriate to desire it because all of the gifts of the Holy Spirit are desirable. It is unlikely that you’ll be given the gift unless you enter into an apostolic office or enter missionary activity in which you work to reach unreached people groups. Even there, I think it is rare; but it is a beautiful gift of the Holy Spirit. What’s most important is to realize that the gift of miracle working is a sign pointing to the beauty of the gospel and the cross.

It’s the gospel we focus on. It’s Jesus whom we focus on. We celebrate the fact that He died for us, that by His blood shed, we find forgiveness of sins as we come to Him and embrace Him as Savior and Lord. We celebrate the fact that He has washed us whiter than snow, and we celebrate the fact that He has given us eternal life. This is the gospel that we focus on this morning as we come to the Communion Table. Let’s have a word of prayer before we partake of the Lord’s Supper.