There are many ministers today, particularly in the United States, who say that God stopped performing miracles through people when the last apostles died. They say that we no longer need miracles or the gifts of the Holy Spirit, because the canon of scripture has been completed. It is my opinion that these statements are completely in error… but my opinion means very little. What does the Bible say?

Clearly in the gospels, Jesus gave authority to His apostles to heal the sick and cast out demons. Certainly God did work in a special way through these twelve men to spread the gospel and bear witness to the resurrection of Jesus. Since that time, the books of the New Testament have been written, and we now have wisdom and instruction that was incomplete in the first century. Praise God for the clear teachings of the Bible! On the other hand, is there any clear instruction that God would stop performing signs and wonders after the revelation of scripture was complete or after the last of the twelve apostles died? The clear answer is, “No!”

I have already addressed this (see Baptism with the Holy Spirit on this website), but the main portion of scripture used to support cessationism (miracles have ceased) is 1Corinthians 13:8-13. Indeed, the miraculous gifts of the Holy Spirit will pass away, but it will be as 1Corinthians 13:12 says, when “we shall see face to face,” and when “I shall know fully, even as I am fully known.” Clearly this speaks of the life to come, when we are in our glorified bodies in the presence of the Lord. So, 1Corinthians 13 does not teach that the gifts of the Spirit have ceased. The next question is, “Are there scriptures indicating that believers other than the apostles would be able to perform miracles? This time the answer is a very clear, “Yes!”

In John 14:11, Jesus talked about the miracles that He had done. He then says,

“I tell you the truth, anyone who has faith in me will do what I have been doing. He will do even greater things than these because I am going to the Father. And I will do whatever you ask in my name, so that the Son may bring glory to the Father. You may ask for anything in my name and I will do it” (John 14:12-14).

Jesus clearly says that anyone who has faith in Him will be able to do miracles. This is just one of many scriptures where Jesus says that He and the Father will do whatever we ask in His name, and this certainly could include miracles. To say that miracles have ceased is utterly ridiculous. There are thousands, if not millions, of certifiable miracles in the world everyday. People who say that they want proof will actually close their eyes to the proof, if you try to show it to them. On the other hand, I will admit that there are far less miracles (signs and wonders) happening in the United States today than there are in many parts of Africa and Asia.

So, why do we see so few miracles in the United States today? Could it have anything to do with the fact that most of us have been taught that miracles have ceased? Jesus said “According to your faith let it be done to you” (Matthew 9:29), and “your faith has healed you (Mark 5:34; 10:52; Luke 18:42 and others). If we look at both Matthew 13:58 and Mark 6:5-6, we see that Jesus “could not do any miracles” (except to heal a few sick people) in His hometown of Nazareth “because of their lack of faith.” Could it be that we lack faith?

In the United States and most of the Western World, we have been taught to trust in doctors and modern technology. We no longer look to Jesus to heal our bodies, multiply food, or calm a storm. We believe that He died for our sins so we could go to heaven when we die, but we no longer look to Him for miracles in this life. Part of the problem is that we no longer see ourselves as desperate for His help. The other part of the problem is that we are in unbelief of His willingness to help us. How can we have faith to believe that we can speak miracles in His name, when we have been taught that miracles no longer happen? There is actually a third problem. Jesus told His disciples, “You will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes upon you” (Acts 1:8a).  All true believers have the Holy Spirit inside them, but most believers in the United States have never experienced the Holy Spirit coming upon them. I believe that the Holy Spirit coming upon us, or the baptism with the Holy Spirit, is the doorway for us to see the power of God working in the church.  Please check out the Baptism with the Holy Spirit on this website.

Does God still do miracles through His people today? Of course! God has done miracles through His people in every age. Volumes could be written of the miracles that God has done through the prayers of His people over the centuries. I will just mention a few that come to my mind.

After George Washington became President of the United States, an old Indian chief came to meet him. The chief said that he wanted to meet the man who could not be killed. Washington’s men had been ambushed during the French and Indian War, and the chief had ordered his braves to focus only on killing the leaders. They shot two horses out from under Washington and thought that they had hit him many times, but with no effect. After the battle, George Washington found holes where four bullets had gone in and come out of his coat, but he was unharmed. This story is well documented and used to be in our American history books.

More recently, there was a German born evangelist named Reinhard Bonnke who ministered mostly in Africa. He preached mostly in Islamic nations, and he would not count anyone’s decision for Christ unless they were willing to give their contact information so that local churches could follow up with them. In spite of this, his team recorded over 100 million (Yes, 100 MILLION) decisions for Christ between 1970 and 2010. At his meetings they used special speakers up on poles which could each carry the sound a quarter mile. They commonly had over 500,000 people attend over a several day outreach. Once they had over 1.5 million in a single meeting, and over a million people trusted in Jesus in that one service. The book Living a Life of Fire, Reinhard Bonnke’s autobiography, shows graphic photographs of the oceans of people who attended his meetings. Why would these people risk their lives to gather in such a crowd? Why would they be willing to give their names and contact information as having trusted in Jesus when it might bring them persecution or even death? The answer is miracles. After preaching a simple message of salvation through the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ, Reinhard Bonnke would ask who needed to be healed. After this,  God healed thousands of people in the name of Jesus, bearing witness to the message that had just been preached. God used miracles to draw people to Himself. Reinhard Bonnke had preached for decades without praying for miraculous signs and wonders, and he did see thousands of people trust in Jesus. On the other hand, after he started praying for healings and other miracles, he saw many millions come to the Lord.

Around 1978, a man named Denny Gunderson from Youth With A Mission came and spoke to my church’s youth group. He told us a story of a YWAM outreach in Israel during the 1970’s. One time their group of about 30 young people were taken out in the wilderness to seek after the Lord. They ate the food that they had, and a food truck was supposed to come the next morning. The truck never arrived, and all that they had was one four-ounce can of Franco American Spaghetti O’s. That morning they heated it up and prayed that God would multiply it to feed everyone. All 30 people filled their plate, and the pot was still full. The same thing happened for lunch and dinner. The next morning the food truck came. They decided to heat up the Spaghetti O’s one more time and see what would happen. It barely filled one person’s plate, and the pot was empty.

We have talked about miracles of all kinds, but what does the Bible say about healing in particular? Isaiah 53:4 says, “Surely he took up our pain and bore our suffering.” Verse 5 says, “…by his wounds we are healed.” If we have any doubt about the meaning of these verses, Matthew 8:14-17 clears it up: “When Jesus came into Peter’s house, he saw Peter’s mother-in-law lying in bed with a fever. He touched her hand and the fever left her and she got up and began to wait on him. When evening came, many who were demon-possessed were brought to him, and he drove out the spirits with a word and healed all the sick. This was to fulfill what was spoken through the prophet Isaiah: ‘He took up our infirmities, and bore our diseases.’ “ These verses appear to say that healing was part of the atonement. Part of the reason Jesus suffered and died was to purchase our healing. This would also make sense because sickness is often associated with sin. Jesus said to the paralyzed man, “Son, your sins are forgiven.” Then He said, “Get up, take your mat and go home.” Read the whole story in Mark 2:1-12.

In Acts 10:38 Peter says, “how God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Spirit and power, and how he went around doing good and healing all who were under the power of the devil.” This verse and several others associate sickness with the devil. 1John 3:8 says, “The reason the Son of God appeared was to destroy the devil’s work.” Of course Satan’s main work is to lead us into sin, but demons also cause sickness and affliction (Mark 9:25; Luke 13:11). Healing and casting out demons were a huge part of Jesus and His disciples ministry. They should be a big part of our ministry today.

Hebrews 1:3 tells us that Jesus is the “exact representation” of the Father. Jesus said, “Anyone who has seen me has seen the Father” (John 14:9). While Jesus was on earth, He healed everyone who came to Him. This shows us that it is also the Father’s will to heal us.

Read James 5:14-15: “Is any one of you sick? He should call the elders of the church to pray over him and anoint him with oil in the name of the Lord. And the prayer offered in faith will make the sick person well; the Lord will raise him up. If he has sinned, he will be forgiven” (NIV 1984 Edition). THE PRAYER OFFERED IN FAITH WILL MAKE THE SICK PERSON WELL. It puts the responsibility on us. Will we obey God and will we have faith? Many try to explain these verses away, but healing through the prayer of faith is one of the teachings of scripture.

In Mark 11:22-23 Jesus says “Have faith in God. I tell you the truth, if anyone says to this mountain, ‘Go throw yourself into the sea, and does not doubt in his heart but believes that what he says will happen, it will be done for him.’ “ If Jesus paid the price for you to be healed, then we do not need to wonder if it is God’s will. Jesus says, “Speak to the mountain, in other words, the problem… or the sickness!” Jesus said things like “Be clean! Be healed! Be opened! Receive your sight!” Peter and John said, “In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, rise up and walk.” Like them, through the power of the Holy Spirit, we can speak in Jesus name and say, “Knee, be healed!” and “Cancer, be gone!” You might need to first get rid of doubt and unbelief. Read and meditate on God’s promises. You can also be encouraged by seeing and hearing testimonies of God’s healing. Even in the United States, there are people being miraculously healed every day. One place that you can go to see documentaries of real modern-day healings is awmi.net. This is Andrew Wommack Ministries. Look for “Healing Journeys” and you will find over forty videos of documented miraculous healings. These videos are well done and they are very encouraging! There are also two phone apps, Listen to Andrew and Gospel Truth TV. The Healing Journeys are available on Gospel Truth TV.

I, personally, have seen a short leg grow three inches in a matter of seconds. Also, the piano player at a church that I attended was diagnosed with wide-spread cancer, but it disappeared after we anointed her with oil and prayed . The doctor actually wrote “Miracle of God” in her medical records. More recently, a man at the church that I attended had a grand maul seizure and an MRI showed two large tumors in his brain. Just weeks later, after being prayed for by our elders (and congregation), a new MRI showed no sign of any tumor. This man, who was told he would soon die, is still alive and well nearly twenty years later.

Sometimes when God heals us it is not instantaneous, but something that takes place over a period of time. In these instances, we need to keep our eyes on God and realize that Jesus has already healed us. 1Peter 2:24 says, “…by His wounds you have been healed.” “Resist the devil, and he will flee from you” (James 4:7). The word resist implies active resistance. We have the authority in Jesus name to tell demonic spirits of affliction to leave. We can thank God that we are already healed. By Jesus stripes we were healed, and by His stripes we are healed! Symptoms are a reality, but God’s word overrules reality. God’s word is truth. Believe the truth: we are healed!

The last thing that I want to say is that healing is to the glory of God. Many people talk about suffering for the Lord. Jesus said that we would suffer persecution (read Mark 10:29-30), and that we would have trouble in this world, but I believe that He wants to give us victory through every trial (John 16:33). Trials can tear us down or they can make us stronger. If we let the devil steal, kill, and destroy, then trials will destroy us. Jesus said that He came to give us abundant life (John 10:10). Hebrews 11:6 says, “Without faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to him must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who earnestly seek him.” In Deuteronomy 28, God lists blessings and curses. Sicknesses and diseases are listed as curses. Do you believe that God wants to rob you and curse you, or do you believe that God is good and that He has good things for you?