Why Miracles?
1. Not all illness is a result of sin.
2. God has power over sickness and death. He and the apostles worked miracles to confirm the message and the messenger (Heb. 2:3-4; 2 Cor. 12:12). Jesus performed miracles to prove He was the Messiah.
3. The purpose of miracles was to produce faith in the Lord’s word. God never did a miracle without a purpose.
A miracle, “mighty work or deed”, was a supernatural work by God, and “signs” means it pointed people to faith or a spiritual truth, as in the 7 sign miracles in John. “Wonder” spoke of the human reaction. There are 121 recorded miracles in the Bible.
Q- What about faith healers today?
I believe in divine healing through the prayers of the saints (James 5:14-15) but not faith healers after the last apostle.
Many were healed in the Bible who expressed no faith or even asked for a healing. Of the 35 healings in the gospels, only 10 expressed faith or asked to be healed.
1. Jesus healed the multitudes who did not express faith (Luke 6:19; 9:11; Matt. 14:14; 15:30).
2. Malchus did not ask Jesus to put his ear back on and did not express faith (John 18:10).
3. The demoniac was incapable of expressing faith (Luke 8:26).
4. The blind man in John 9 expressed no faith.
5. Nine of the ten lepers in Luke 17:11 expressed no faith.
6. Paul had great faith, yet God chose not to heal him for God’s divine purpose.
7. Paul did not heal Timothy of his stomach ailments, and I am sure he had faith.
8. Paul did not heal Trophimus, but left him at Miletum sick (2 Tim. 4:20).
Con: God heals at his sovereign will and for His sovereign purposes to bring someone to faith or convey a spiritual truth. We can’t demand a healing or claim a healing by positive words of confession.
