HAVE MIRACLES CEASED?

     Thank you and a welcome to each one in our listening audience
this morning. Have grateful I am that you have chosen to tune us in
and I hope and pray give attention to what is being said.
     Before the lesson this morning, I wish to call your attention to
a series of lessons which are to be conducted at the White Park
church of Christ next week. On the nights of October 13, 14, and 15,
the congregation has invited Elmer Moore of Livingston, Texas, to be
our guest speaker. He will present lessons concerning the Eldership
of the Lord's Church. The term Elders is used to identify those men
who have the oversight of the local congregation of God's people.
The qualifications of these men are given in 1 Timothy 3:1-7, and
Titus 1:5-9. Brother Moore will discuss this important subject for
those three nights, beginning each night at 7:30. You have a cordial
invitation to visit with us and to study together with brother Moore.
     Now to our subject for the morning. We direct your attention to
Genesis chapters 1 and 2. God created the first man and the first
woman miraculously. Since then, the human race has multiplied through
the operation of the natural law of reproduction or procreation. Had
God chosen to have done so, He could have continued to make men out
of the dust of the earth and breathe into their nostrils the breath
of life. We all recognize that God did not choose to do so.
     Furthermore, even a casual reader of the Bible knows that God
performed miracles through certain men. Our question is not COULD God
enable men today to perform miracles as He did, but IS He granting
them such power now. So this is not a question of God's power -- but
of God's plan. Thus we ask the question: Are miracles still being
performed through human instrumentality today?  Or, have miracles, as
they were performed in the first century, ceased? Simply put, Does
God today perform divine miracles through men?
     There can be no doubt that God has enabled men to perform
miracles in times past. When Moses went to Egypt to deliver the
Israelites out of bondage, God gave him power to do signs and
miracles to confirm the truth of his mission, to the Israelites and
to Pharoah. Moses first spoke the truth and then he confirmed that
truth with signs. He proved God was with him first to the Israelites
(Ex. 4:29, 30), and then to Pharoah. I feel sure that you in the
listening audience are familiar with the ten miraculous plagues that
were brought upon Egypt through the hands of Moses. Thus, Moses
proved that God was with him by the signs and miracles which he
performed.
     The miracles that Jesus performed were to confirm the truth of
his mission and of His Divine Sonship. Read with me Matthew 11:2-5,
"Now when John heard in the prison the works of the Christ, he sent
by his disciples and said unto him, Art thou he that cometh, or look
we for another? And Jesus answered and said unto them. Go and tell
John the things which ye hear and see: the blind receive their sight,
and the lame walk, and lepers are cleansed, and the deaf hear, and
the dead are raised up. and the poor have good tiding preached to
them." Then again from John 20:30, 31, "Many other signs therefore
did Jesus in the presence of the disciples, which are not written in
this book: but these are written, that ye may believe that Jesus is
the Christ, the Son of God; and that believing ye may have life in
his name."
     The miracles that the apostles performed or that the Lord
performed through them, were to confirm the word that they preached.
The gospel that they preached was a new message. They were to take
this new message to all the world. How could they prove that Christ
had sent them? They had no Bible, the New Testament had not been
written at that time. So the Lord promised them special power,
through which they were able to convince the world that He sent them
and was with them, and that they were preaching the truth.
     Just prior to Jesus' ascension into the Heavens back to the
throne of the Father, Jesus told His apostles, "But ye shall receive
power, when the Holy Spirit is come upon you: and ye shall be my
witnesses both in Jerusalem, and in Judea and Samaria, and unto the
uttermost part of the earth" (Acts 1:5). The apostles received this
power when the Holy Spirit was given to them, as recorded in Acts
2:1-4. These men (the apostles) thus were endowed with the power to
perform signs and miracles. Then, in Acts 6, we learn that the
apostles could impart these gifts to others through the laying on of
their hands. Stephen, one of the seven men chosen by the church in
Jerusalem, received this power from the apostles and was able to do
"great wonders and signs among the people" (Acts 6:5-8).  We read of
Stephen in the city of Samaria, performing signs and miracles, as the
proof of the message which he preached (Acts 8:5-7). But, Stephen
could not pass this power or ability on to others, since he was not
an apostle. When it came time for the brethren in Samaria to receive
the special ability to perform miracles through the Holy Spirit,
Peter and John (two of the apostles) had to come down from Jerusalem
and the scripture says, "Then laid they their hands on them, and they
received the Holy Spirit" (Acts 8:17). Did you not notice that it was
only through the laying on of the apostles hands that this special
miraculous power was given to others.
     The miraculous power to perform miracles was promised to the
apostles to guide them into all truth. Hear the Master as He speaks
in John 16:13, "Howbeit when he, the Spirit of truth, is come, he
shall guide you into all the truth..." The promise was fulfilled as
we have already noted in Acts 2:1-4. Therefore, when the began
preaching the truth they were able to confirm the word with signs and
miracles. Listen to Hebrews 2:3,4, "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 with divers
miracles, and gifts of the Holy Spirit, according to his own will?"
     Question: Does Jesus have to come back and raise Lazarus from
the dead again, and do His other miracles in order for us to believe
that He is the Son of God? Do the apostles have to come back and
again perform miracles in order for us to believe that God's Word is
the truth? Does not the signs and miracles of the first century
continue to confirm that Word given by the apostles? If a court
proves a man innocent of a charge, does it have to convene and
reconfirm this man's innocence every year?  A thing proved is forever
proved. A truth once confirmed is forever confirmed. The great
salvation has been once confirmed, and it therefore forever
confirmed.
      We now have the evidence in writing as we noted in reading John
20:30-31 a moment ago. The written word of God.  Faith now comes by
hearing that word. Romans 10:17, states, "So then faith coming by
hearing, and hearing by the word of God." The written word supplies
the man of God completely unto every good work. So states Paul in 2
Timothy 3:16, 17. If a person will not be convinced by the Bible, he
would not be convinced if one should rise from the dead. Those who
would claim to perform miracles today are ignorant of God's plan; and
in reality deny that the salvation was ever confirmed as the Bible
declares. Miracles fulfilled their purpose; and the need for them
today has ceased.
     This is not to say that God no longer works in the lives of His
people. Through prayer we can call upon our Heavenly Father in times
of sickness and need, with the assurance that He will answer the
prayer that is offered in faith and in harmony with His revealed
will. But that is another subject. And perhaps we will spend some
time studying it in the near future.
     But, what we are talking about this morning is: Do men still
perform divine healing miracles as they did in the first century? Can
one today raise the dead, as Peter did in Acts 9?  Can one today heal
a man that has never walked as Peter did in Acts 3? Can one heal a
blind man as Paul did in Acts 13? And will you notice that this blind
man was not a believer. Oh, no, but to the contrary, he was one very
much opposed to the truth presented by Paul. Sometimes we hear one
who claims to be able to perform miracles say, "One must have faith
before the Lord will heal them." Not so. Here was a man opposing the
message of the apostle Paul and Paul healed him of his blindness. You
see, if one has what the apostle Paul had, he could cause a blindness
to come upon me, and then he could by the same power heal me of that
blindness. Can one be bitten by a poisonous serpent and not be
affected as the apostle Paul in Acts 28?
     What we are saying is: It is time to stop debating whether one
can perform a divine miracle today and let those who so claim to be
able to do so demonstrate their power.  Surely, if one has the same
power that the apostles had, then that one can do the same things
that the apostles did. If not, why not? The fact that none can do
what the apostles did in the first century speaks loud and clear. It
simply says that mankind today does not possess the power that the
apostles had. The fact of the matter is that there is no longer any
need for that power today. The Word of God has long ago been
confirmed as the revealed truth of Jehovah. It no longer needs
confirming as such, thus, there is no longer any need for divine
signs and miracles as they were performed in the long ago.
     I am reading from 1 Corinthians 13, beginning with verse 8,
"Love never faileth: but whether there be prophecies, they shall be
done away; whether there be tongues, they shall cease; whether there
be knowledge, it shall be done away. For we know in part, and we
prophesy in part; but when that which is perfect is come, that which
is in part shall be done away." This passage very clearly teaches
that the miracles of the first century have been done away. "That
which is perfect" in this text has reference to the completed Word of
God. When the Bible would be completely given and written down, then
the need for confirming miracles would no longer be needed. James
refers to the "perfect law" of liberty. (James 2:25). We have the
completed perfect law of God's word available. It stands as the
confirmed truth of Heaven. It has been confirmed by the signs and
miracles of the first century. We can now with confidence follow its
teachings with the full assurance that we will be pleasing unto
Jehovah God when we obey the commandments of our Lord and Savior
Jesus Christ. May we have the determination to "walk in the light" of
God's Son and be in fellowship with our Father.
     Before I close, once again I remind you of our gospel meeting
next week. Elmer Moore is to be with us in the discussing of God's
arrangement for the oversight of His family. The services will be at
7:30 each evening, beginning Monday, October 13 and continuing
through Wednesday evening, October 15. You have a cordial invitation
to visit with us.

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