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The Gifts of Miracles and Healings
“And God has appointed in the church... third teachers, then miracles, thengifts of healings ,...” (1 Cor 12:28).THE POWER OF GOD Miracles and healings are ranked fourth and fifth, just after all of the speaking gifts (1 Cor 12:28). This shows their importance in the sense of benefits to the body of Christ. But it also reveals that they are not as great or as beneficial to the body of believers as the spoken word of God. To illustrate this point, consider the answer that Abraham gave to the rich man who went to the place of torment after he died. The rich man said, “ ‘I beg you, father [Abraham], that you send him [Lazarus] to my father’s house-- for I have five brothers--in order that he may warn them, so that they will not also come to this place of torment.’ “But Abraham said, `They have Moses and the Prophets; let them hear them.’ But he said, `No, father Abraham, but if someone goes to them from the dead, they will repent!’ But he said to him, `If they do not listen to Moses and the Prophets, they will not be persuaded even if someone rises from the dead’ ” (Lk 16:27-31).And so we see that if certain people do not have or cannot receive a reverent respect for the covenant word of God, they will not heed the warnings in the word of God even if a miracle or healing happens in their midst. Now miracles and healings are alike in one very important, powerful way [this is why I have grouped them both together under one heading]. For example, in the Greek, “miracles” (1 Cor 12:28) here primarily means power [Transliterated: Dunamis], specifically the power of God. For example, a miracle happened to cause Mary to be with Child: “The angel answered and said to her, ‘The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power [Dunamis] of the Most High will overshadow you; and for that reason the holy Child shall be called the Son of God’ ” (Lk 1:35).So, it was a miracle that caused Mary to be with child. Likewise, the power [Dunamis] of God had to be present for Jesus to perform a healing. For example, “One day He was teaching; and there were some Pharisees and teachers of the law sitting there, who had come from every village of Galilee and Judea and from Jerusalem; and the power of the Lord was present for Him to perform healing” (Lk 5:17). In the Greek, healing means to cure.They Authenticated Those Who Established the Christian Religion Evidently, God gave gifts of miracles and healings to those who started Christianity for the purpose of authenticating them and their message as from God Himself [God authenticated Moses and his message with miracles]. For example, Peter said that God gave gifts of miracles and healings to Jesus to authenticate Him and His message: “Men of Israel, listen to these words: Jesus the Nazarene, a man attested to you by God with miracles [Dunamis] and wonders and signs which God performed through Him in your midst, just as you yourselves know” (Ac 2:22). And, “You know of Jesus of Nazareth, how God anointed Him with the Holy Spirit and with power [Dunamis], and how He went about doing good and healing all who were oppressed by the devil, for God was with Him” (Ac 10:38).Likewise, God gave gifts of miracles and healings to the apostles to authenticate them and their message: “The signs of a true apostle were performed among you with all perseverance, by signs and wonders and miracles [Dunamis]” (2 Co 12:12). And, “God also testifying with them [the apostles], both by signs and wonders and by various miracles [Dunamis] and by gifts of the Holy Spirit according to His own will” (He 2:4).TAKE HEED! God can do miracles and He can perform healings. But for some very good reasons, I would be most, most skeptical of anyone today who claims to be able to perform miracles or healings. First of all, I am not naive. I know that unscrupulous men trick disciples into believing that they can do miracles or healings for the sake of popularity and financial gain. Second, look at the kinds of persons to whom God gave these abilities. In the Old Testament, it was the holy prophets, not unholy people. For example, to whom did Naaman come for a healing? Who made the borrowed ax handle float to the top of the water? Who brought in the Law with power? In the New Testament, who cause the blind to see, the lame to walk, and the deaf to hear? Was it not Jesus and the apostles? Third, to whom did God tell sick Christians to go to for a cure? Below, this is the topic to consider at some length. Do You Need a Cure? “Is anyone among you sick? Then he must call for the elders of the church and they are to pray over him, anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord; and the prayer offered in faith will restore the one who is sick, and the Lord will raise him up, and if he has committed sins, they will be forgiven him. Therefore, confess your sins to one another, and pray for one another so that you may be healed. The effective prayer of a righteous man can accomplish much. Elijah was a man with a nature like ours, and he prayed earnestly that it would not rain, and it did not rain on the earth for three years and six months. Then he prayed again, and the sky poured rain and the earth produced its fruit” (Ja 5:14-18). 1. Call the Most Holy Members to Come to You (vs. 14)Find the most holy members of the church and get them to pray for you. The Pastors [i.e. the Elders/Bishops] of the Church are supposed to be most holy, righteous, and mature members of the church since they have to meet strict and holy eligibility requirements to be one (1 Tim 3:1-7; Titus 1:5-14). So do not just call any Christian to pray for you. Do not just call on your relatives to pray for you. Do not just call your Christian friends to pray for you. But be sure to call for the most holy members of the church, your pastors, to come to you to pray over you and to anoint you with oil in the name of the Lord (calling upon the name of the Lord). 2. Confess Your Sins (vs. 16)When you are in a world of hurt, when you are in dire straights, you better get right with the Lord. Start confessing your sins. Do you have any sins you need to confess? This may be the reason why you are sick or dying (1 Cor 11:30), for many, many members are walking contrary to Christ and they do not know it (i.e. sin has deceived them), they would rather enjoy the sensual nature of this world than the spiritual nature of God. 3. Take Courage in a Righteous Man (vs. 16-18)Do not underestimate the prayer of a righteous man. God wanted Job to pray for his judgmental friends so that God would not deal with them according to their religious folly. “Now therefore, take for yourselves seven bulls and seven rams, and go to My servant Job, and offer up a burnt offering for yourselves, and My servant Job will pray for you. For I will accept him so that I may not do with you according to your folly, because you have not spoken of Me what is right, as My servant Job has” (Job 42:8). Job was right, they were wrong. So Job was a righteous man and his friends were not. Go to a righteous man when you need a cure.Now if miracles and healings are scarce, even if the most righteous member’s appeals to God do not avail, if we cannot have a miracle or a healing, then we definitely need the next gift, the gift of helps. But even if miracles and healings occur, the body of Christ still needs the gift of help.
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