"Prove it!" This is common statement I hear from skeptics regarding Christianity. "That's all fine and good, but prove with absolute certainty that what you say is true." The issue ultimately is not the lack of evidence, because believe me it's there, the heart of the issue is the issue of the heart.
Just as it is for us, it was for the apostles and Jesus Himself. The hearts of the Pharisees were no more harder then the skeptics of today. They s the works of Jesus and still walked away from Christ. We can look at one example in Luke 7 where Jesus resurrected the widows son. What did it says the reaction of the people were?
"Fear seized them all, and they glorified God, saying, “A great prophet has arisen among us!” and “God has visited his people!” And this report about him spread through the whole of Judea and all the surrounding country." -Luke 7:16-17.
We can see that the people saw that Jesus was obviously speaking for God. It showed that the message He had was authoritative and divine in origin. This doesn't stop just with Jesus but continues on to the apostles as well. Paul, in 2 Corinthians begins to defend his apostleship and authority. In chapter 12 verse 12 he gives a defense of his apostleship writing, "The signs of a true apostle were performed among you with utmost patience, with signs and wonders and mighty works."
Signs and wonders were the sign of the true apostle- an authoritative witness of the Glorious Risen Savior.
This is exactly why I started this section with Hebrews 2. It also supports the idea that signs and wonders (The supernatural working of the Spirit of God as we see in the book of Acts) were to authenticate the authority of the apostles.
"For since the message declared by angels proved to be reliable, and every transgression or disobedience received a just retribution- Hebrews 2:2
"Fear seized them all, and they glorified God, saying, “A great prophet has arisen among us!” and “God has visited his people!” And this report about him spread through the whole of Judea and all the surrounding country." -Luke 7:16-17.
We can see that the people saw that Jesus was obviously speaking for God. It showed that the message He had was authoritative and divine in origin. This doesn't stop just with Jesus but continues on to the apostles as well. Paul, in 2 Corinthians begins to defend his apostleship and authority. In chapter 12 verse 12 he gives a defense of his apostleship writing, "The signs of a true apostle were performed among you with utmost patience, with signs and wonders and mighty works."
Signs and wonders were the sign of the true apostle- an authoritative witness of the Glorious Risen Savior.
This is exactly why I started this section with Hebrews 2. It also supports the idea that signs and wonders (The supernatural working of the Spirit of God as we see in the book of Acts) were to authenticate the authority of the apostles.
"For since the message declared by angels proved to be reliable, and every transgression or disobedience received a just retribution- Hebrews 2:2
Here the writer of Hebrews is talking about the Old Covenant- the law, a message of sin and condemnation. It was proven reliable by signs and wonders. It doesn't take more then a cursory look at the book of Exodus to see how God proved his messengers reliable.
Exodus 4:6- Leprosy Miracle
Exodus 7:8-13- Aarons staff turns into a snake
Exodus 7:14-12:51- Plagues of Egypt
Exodus 14- Crossing the Red Sea
And on and on the miracles go in the book of Exodus.
I do think, before going further, a definition for miracle (signs and wonders etc...) would be imperative to the discussion.
R.C. Sproul gives a very precise definition of a miracle. He defines a miracle in the broad sense that, "A work that only God can do, such as bringing life out of death, such as, restoring a limb that has been cut off—by command—such as, walking on the water, such as, turning water into wine." So, when the extraordinary happens through the ordinary. [1]
In this sense, this is not the same as God working supernaturally or God healing through prayer. The difference is in the use of human agent in the work. We all know God can (and will) raise the dead. (1 Cor. 15). But, when we see Elisha do it in 2 Kings 4, it is a miracle in a sense Sproul is speaking of.
Miracles (signs and wonders) carry with them the authority of God. As we've seen, only true messengers of God do true signs and wonders. The writer of Hebrews takes this thought forward into his day and time in the rest of the passage.
how shall we escape if we neglect such a great salvation? It was declared at first by the Lord, and it was attested to us by those who heard, while God also bore witness by signs and wonders and various miracles and by gifts of the Holy Spirit distributed according to his will. -Hebrews 2:3-4
The message of salvation was declared first by Jesus then by those who heard from Jesus and, the writer says, this message was attested to by "signs and wonders and various miracles and by gifts of the Holy Spirit distributed according to his will." We have seen various examples throughout Scripture of the miracles of Jesus. But, let's put the microscope under the miraculous workings of the apostles, specifically those laid out in 1 Corinthians 12.
Signs of the Spirit
Now there are varieties of gifts, but the same Spirit; and there are varieties of service, but the same Lord; and there are varieties of activities, but it is the same God who empowers them all in everyone. To each is given the manifestation of the Spirit for the common good. For to one is given through the Spirit the utterance of wisdom, and to another the utterance of knowledge according to the same Spirit, to another faith by the same Spirit, to another gifts of healing by the one Spirit,to another the working of miracles, to another prophecy, to another the ability to distinguish between spirits, to another various kinds of tongues, to another the interpretation of tongues. All these are empowered by one and the same Spirit, who apportions to each one individually as he wills - 1 Cor. 12:4-11
Here we see that gifts of the Spirit (tounges, prophecy etc...) put right alongside the working of miracles. While we will handle each gift specifically later on, it is important to see that the working of these gifts gave testimony to the message of the Gospel. Signs and wonders, along with gifts of the Spirit were "distributed according to his will." (2 Cor. 12:11, Heb. 2:4). These gifts were one of the many ways the Spirit testifies about Jesus (John 15:26). As 1 Corinthians 12:3 says "...and no one can say “Jesus is Lord” except in the Holy Spirit." and that is the whole point, they were to show that Jesus is LORD both through gifts and conversion. They were signs pointing to the reality of the Gospel.
What About Stephen?
And Stephen, full of grace and power, was doing great wonders and signs among the people. - Acts 6:8 Many would point to this in the book of Acts and would claim that obviously these gifts were available past the apostles and to everyone in the church. It is true that Stephen was not one of the twelve, but neither was Paul (and yet Paul performed miracles as well). What were the requirements of being an apostle in the Bible? They had to have seen the ressurected Lord Jesus (Acts 1:22). There were nearly 500 men who had seen this according to Paul (1 Cor. 15:6). So, in one sense Stephen was an "apostle" though not in the same sense as being one of the chosen, like Mathias.
Also, whether Stephen had seen Jesus or not is somewhat of an inference, but after Stephen preaches to the people, we have a confirmed sighting of Jesus. "But [Stephen], full of the Holy Spirit, gazed into heaven and saw the glory of God, and Jesus standing at the right hand of God." -Acts 7:55.
Stephen did see the risen Jesus, just as Paul had. This shows that he was certainly someone in a different category then "the rest of the church" as some have claimed. He was a man who was full of the Spirit, yes, but even as the disciples did miracles before seeing the risen Christ (Matthew 10 for example) so Stephen did too. The Spirit, through his miracles, and through his visions points the people to the "glory of God". Let us also remember that even faithful men like Stephen faced persecution for his message, and he only got to the message of sin, not of the cross (Acts 7:51-53).
The Here And Now
As we've seen, the signs and wonders done in Bible were meant to be an authoritative sign of the early church. We don't see these signs in the church today. We don't literally raise the dead, restore limbs or do the works that the apostles did. Though we, like Stephen and the apostles, had not seen the risen Jesus, our witness is not without hope! The Holy Spirit still does the work in conviction of sin (John 16:8) and the work of teaching and revealing Spiritual truth (John 14:26, 1 Cor. 2) and the work of rebirth. (John 3). Now we have the message of the apostles, in the Word of God, and there miracles testify to it. The Holy Spirit "carried along" the authors of Scripture so that it is the true authentic Word of the living God and there miracles prove there divine origin. By this word we are born again (1 Peter 1:23) and it is this word that will endure forever (Matthew 24:35). The London Baptist Confession 1686 speaks of the work of the Spirit and the Holy Spirit this way,
"The Holy Scripture is the only sufficient, certain, and infallible rule of all saving knowledge, faith, and obedience, although the light of nature, and the works of creation and providence do so far manifest the goodness, wisdom, and power of God, as to leave men inexcusable; yet are they not sufficient to give that knowledge of God and his will which is necessary unto salvation. Therefore it pleased the Lord at sundry times and in divers manners to reveal himself, and to declare that his will unto his church; and afterward for the better preserving and propagating of the truth, and for the more sure establishment and comfort of the church against the corruption of the flesh, and the malice of Satan, and of the world, to commit the same wholly unto writing; which maketh the Holy Scriptures to be most necessary, those former ways of God's revealing his will unto his people being now ceased." (1:1)
The works of these men were as a witness to the Scriptures, but while "those former ways" has now "ceased" the Scriptures abide forever.
The new birth, given by the Spirit through the Word of God is our commendation- our testimony to the outside world. Paul writes more about this in 2 Corinthians 3.
Are we beginning to commend ourselves again? Or do we need, as some do, letters of recommendation to you, or from you? You yourselves are our letter of recommendation, written on our hearts, to be known and read by all. And you show that you are a letter from Christ delivered by us, written not with ink but with the Spirit of the living God, not on tablets of stone but on tablets of human hearts. - 2 Corinthians 3:1-3
The Spirit's work in us, promised all the way back in the Old Testament (Ezek. 36:26) is all the testimony we need for the truth we claim. Whatever the skeptic might want to say, God Himself has already made Himself known in Creation (Romans 1:18-20), but ultimately in Christ. Skeptics will say if God will just show Himself they will believe Him, but He already has shown Himself in Jesus Christ, God in the Flesh. (John 1:14). He came to earth, destroyed the temple of His body, and as He said He would, He raised it up again (John 2:19). The skeptic will never see this apart from the work of Spirit to show them the Glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ (2 Cor. 3-4) and we praise the one who opened our blinded eyes to see.
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