____________________________________________________ THE GOSPEL OBSERVER "Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations...teaching them to observe all that I commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age" (Matthew 28:19,20). ____________________________________________________ June 7, 1992 ____________________________________________________ Miracles Performed For Those Without Faith by Tom Edwards Often many of today's so-called faith healers accuse those whom they try to heal as not having enough faith if they show no signs of improvement, but who is really to be blamed? Are there any examples in the Bible of anyone being healed who had no faith or of anyone who worked miracles in the presence of or upon an unbeliever? Consider the following: In John 9, Jesus miraculously gave eyesight to a man who had been blind from birth. Here is a case of one who was healed--not on the basis of his own faith. According to the text, this miraculously cured man did not even know who it was who healed him: ``Whether He is a sinner, I do not know; one thing I do know, that, whereas I was blind, now I see'' (v. 25). How can anyone have faith in the Lord if that one doesn't even believe in the sinless nature of Jesus Christ? Later, the Lord appeared to this man and asked him, ``Do you believe in the Son of Man?'' The formerly blind man responded by saying, ``And who is He, Lord, that I may believe in Him?'' It wasn't until after Jesus told him that it was He Himself, that the healed man believed (John 9:35-38). Obviously, in this case, faith was irrelevant to the man's healing--for he had none at the time of it. Miracles were to help establish belief in the gospel (Mark 16:20; Heb. 2:3,4). They would also serve to distinguish one of the Lord's true apostles from the false ones (2 Cor. 12:12). Without these miraculous signs that would attest to the credibility of those whom God allowed to perform such, who would know whom to believe before the availability of the completed, confirmed, and inspired written word of God? In writing to the Corinthians, Paul declared, ``And my message and my preaching were not in persuasive words of wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power, that your faith should not rest on the wisdom of men, but on the power of God'' (1 Cor. 2:4,5). Because God's word has been confirmed, we now must believe it and obey it, for therein lies the ``power of God'' to salvation (Rom. 1:16). Another example of one who had a miracle worked on him without any indication of faith on his part is recorded in Acts 13:4-12. It pertains to a certain magician and false prophet by the name of Elymas. He had been perverting the right ways of the Lord and was trying to dissuade the proconsul Sergius Paulus from accepting the faith of the gospel. Here was a wicked man who appears to have had no room at all in his heart for God. Paul referred to Elymas as being ``full of all deceit and fraud'' and further described him as being a ``son of the devil'' and an ``enemy of all righteousness.'' His attempts to hinder Sergius from accepting God's truth was thwarted by the power of the Lord--for God worked a miracle on him that caused Elymas to be temporarily blind, and which prompted the proconsul to believe and be amazed at the teaching of Christ. Since I teach that miraculous gifts are not for today (which is in agreement with what the Bible shows), this must seem as a perversion to those who believe that these gifts are for our time. There has been a plurality of occasions when I have asked people who believed that they had these special miraculous gifts to command me to be blind for a short while so that I could know that they really do have the power. I can remember one in particular who tried, but to no avail. Recently, a friend of mine, Rick Harlow, made a challenge over a radio program to anyone who claims to work miracles today. If that person would go with him to the cemetery and raise anyone from the dead, he would give that one who could do so $1,000. If one today has the same miraculous powers as the apostles of long ago then this miracle of raising the dead should not be a problem. The Bible shows that this was done in the early church. Though I believe in all the miracles of the Bible and that God still has the power to do the same today, I know that, according to His word, He has chosen not to for our time; and from the Scriptures we see that miraculous gifts were temporary (1 Cor. 13:8-13); and because they were bestowed by an apostle through the laying on of hands and no apostles are living today, these gifts, therefore, have ceased (cf. Acts 8:14-23; Acts 19:1-7). Sometimes when an honest inquirer asks a so-called faith healer to work a miracle to prove his claims, the so-called faith healer says, ``You're tempting God.'' Is it tempting God to want to know with certainty His will? Do you think if you could have gone up to the apostle Paul in his day and ask to see him do a miracle, in order that you might know whether he is really of the Lord or not, that Paul would say, ``I won't because you're tempting God''? If you recall, it was Gideon who asked God for two different signs whereby he could know with certainty if the Lord was going to use him to deliver Israel or not (Judg. 6:36-40). The first sign Gideon asked for is that the fleece he would put on the threshing floor would remain wet while the ground would be dry. It would seem that a fleece would naturally remain wet longer than the ground. But then Gideon asked for another sign by saying, ''...please let me make a test once more with the fleece, let it now be dry only on the fleece, and let there be dew on all the ground.'' This sign he asked for was granted. I was reading through the book of Genesis earlier today and thinking about the request of Pharaoh for Joseph to interpret his dreams. There is no indication that Pharaoh believed that Joseph could do this. He had merely heard a report from his chief cupbearer that Joseph had done so before. On learning of this, Pharaoh had Joseph brought before him. He told him his dreams, and Joseph interpreted them. It wasn't until after Joseph had done so that Pharaoh declared, ''...Can we find a man like this, in whom is a divine spirit?...Since God has informed you of all this, there is no one so discerning and wise as you are. You shall be over my house, and according to your command all my people shall do homage; only in the throne I will be greater than you...See I have set you over all the land of Egypt'' (Gen. 41:38-41). Not once do we read Joseph asking Pharaoh, ``Do you have the faith that I can interpret your dreams?'' or saying, ``You must have faith or I won't be able to do this.'' Because Joseph did what God gave him the power to do, Pharaoh was able to have confidence in him and see him as being one who was in fellowship with God. A similar account, which is even more convincing, is that of Daniel before King Nebuchadnezzar. In this case, it appears that the king had little confidence in his magicians, conjurers, sorcerers, and the Chaldeans. To be certain that they could give a true interpretation, he demanded of them that they first tell him what the dream was. If they could not, they would be torn apart ``limb from limb,'' and their houses would be destroyed. Realizing that they did not have the power to know of the king's dream, they beseeched the king that he would tell it to them. The king would not; and he said, ''...tell me the dream, that I may know that you can declare to me its interpretation'' (Dan. 2:9). Anyone could make up a false interpretation for the king's dream, but it would take a miraculous ability to be able to tell the king what that dream was. To do so, would be a sign unto the king that the teller has this power; and his interpretation, therefore, can be trusted. Daniel was such a man to whom God gave this ability, and to which he attributed to the Lord (Dan. 2:27-30). Not once did Daniel accuse King Nebuchadnezzar of tempting God. Nor did he say, ``I cannot do this for you unless you believe that I can do it.'' Or ''...unless you believe that the Lord can do it.'' Daniel worked the miracle, and then the king believed! It caused him to confess to Daniel that ``Surely your God is a God of gods and a Lord of kings and a revealer of mysteries, since you have been able to reveal this mystery'' (Dan. 2:47). In addition, the king ``promoted Daniel and gave him many gifts, and he made him ruler over the whole province of Babylon and chief prefect over all the wise men of Babylon'' (v. 48). Philip had gone to preach in the city of Samaria. There many people beheld the miraculous powers Philip was manifesting as he cast out unclean spirits and healed those who had been paralyzed and lame. Because the gospel Philip preached was confirmed by these supernatural signs, many in that city believed in Jesus and were baptized into Christ (Acts 8:5-8,12,13). As mentioned earlier, the main purpose for miracles was in order to give credibility to the one so performing them and confirm the message which that person would declare. Healing miracles were not for the mere sake of making people well (Mark 16:20; 1 Tim. 4:23). When people today claim to have supernatural gifts by the power of God, but then teach a message that is contrary to the gospel, God would certainly not confirm that message with signs following, even if supernatural gifts were for today. Unfortunately, this is the case of far too many in our time. Though they claim to work miracles, they don't even teach the need to be baptized (along with belief and repentance) in order to be saved. The Bible, however, does (Mark 16:16; Acts 2:38; Acts 22:16; Rom. 6:3,4; Col. 2:12; 1 Pet. 3:21). Furthermore, many of these who claim to work miracles by the Holy Spirit and to be attuned to what the Holy Spirit is saying are not even in agreement among themselves: One teaches ``once saved always saved,'' while the other teaches ``salvation can be lost.'' One teaches ``you must speak in tongues or you haven't been converted,'' while another takes the opposite position. On and on we could mention contrary beliefs and practices held by those who all claim to be led miraculously by the Holy Spirit. What a farce! God and the Holy Spirit are not the authors of confusion, but that is just how it so often is in the religious world. The Lord does not teach a conflicting gospel or various plans of salvation to different people. There is only one (Jude 3; Eph. 4:5). It is the written revelation which we must each look to in order to hear the words of God. The reason why so many people are not healed by the so-called faith healers today is not because these infirmed people lack the faith; it is because the so-called faith healers do not have the power to do such. For them to put the blame on the sick is simply a way of pointing the finger away from themselves. As we have seen in this lesson, those who could work miracles in the Bible often did so regardless of the recipient's faith, lack of faith, or having no faith at all. We cannot ignore these Bible examples. ________________________________________ Tri-State CHURCH OF CHRIST 1314 Montgomery Avenue, Ashland, Kentucky 41101 Sunday: 10:00 A.M. Bible class 10:50 A.M. Worship 6:30 P.M. Worship Wednesday: 7:30 P.M. Bible study evangelist/editor: Tom Edwards (606) 325-9742 e-mail: tedwards@zoomnet.net Gospel Observer web site: http://www.zoomnet.net/~tedwards/go ________________________________________