Day 181

“And if anyone wants to harm them, fire flows out of their mouth and devours their enemies; and so if anyone wants to harm them, he must be killed in this way. ⁶ These have the power to shut up the sky, so that rain will not fall during the days of their prophesying; and they have power over the waters to turn them into blood, and to strike the earth with every plague, as often as they desire.” Revelation 11:5-6 NASB.

At Pentecost God empowered the church with prophetic gifts (Acts 2:17-18). The apostles exercised these gifts in conjunction with impressive signs and wonders (Acts2:43; 5:12-16; 6:8; 14:3). These spectacles were impressive ways to draw attention to the gospel (Acts3;6-12; 8:6-7; 9:34-35; 19:10-20). There are parts of the world where the proclamation of the gospel is still connected with miraculous interventions on the part of God.

In the Western church today, on the other hand, miracles are rarely experienced. And the miracles we do experience tend to be fairly trivial or frauds. There are repeated warnings in the NT concerning fraudulent miracle workers in the last days (e.g.Matt.24:24, Rev 13:13,14 etc). Texts like Eph 4:11-13 and others seem to assume that supernatural gifts will continue until the end of the age. History and international experience suggest God is still powerfully active wherever such action will make a positive difference.

One other reason for the lack of miracles in the Western world is secularization. The sceptical nature of Western thought picks miracles apart and attempts to show that they are the products of manipulation or wishful thinking (which often they are.) If a true prophet was to arise in the Western church right now, most believers would probably reject him or her on principle. The Western church, therefore, has a lot in common with the compromised Christianity of cities like Laodicea, Thyatira and Sardis, which were comfortable with their situation in the world. Jesus did not do miracles in Nazareth because they found Him too familiar to believe (Matt 13:57-58).

Another explanation for the lack of miracles in today’s world is the sovereignty of God. In the Bible, miracles tend to appear most frequently on the cutting edge of God’s new initiatives, especially in relation to spreading the gospel in new areas. Miracles are more likely to be seen when believers are breaking new ground for the gospel than when they are self-absorbed with their comfort on this side of paradise. Only when the church is prepared to challenge society with the claims of Christ will we witness the power of God in its biblical fullness.