Quote:
Originally Posted by Fluffy
Sorry about the font size in above post. Got enthusiastic!
Found a study I did awhile back. Kind of interesting.
These are some of the things Jesus did while here on earth:
Turned water to wine John 2:1-11
Heal from a distance John 4:50, Matt 8:13, John 11:50
Heal by touching Mark 1:34
Authority over weather Matt 8:26, Mark 4:33
Deliverance from demons Matt 8:28, Matt 17:14, mark 1:25,34, Mark 5
Raising the dead Matt 9:23-25, Luke 7:14, John 11:43
Multiply food Matt 15:29-38 Mark 6:39
Walk on water Matt 14:25
Talk to Moses and Elijah Luke 9:32
Wither trees Mark 11:20
Heal without touching Mark 2:11, Mark 10:52, Luke 17:14, John 5:8
Deliverance from demons without touching Mark 7:29, Mark 9:24
Fishing John 21:6
Then we read: John 14:12-14: "Most assuredly, I say to you, he who believes in Me, the works that I do he will do also; and greater works than these he will do, because I go to My Father."
Hmmm, now why cant we do these things? Jesus said we could!
|
Love is the greatest thing, more so than any miracle, as Paul teaches us in 1 Cor. chapter 13.
secondly, the canon of Scripture is closed.... so while miracles can and do still happen, they are not so prevalent as they once were, because formerly the miracles authenticated the messengers, authenticating the gospel and the new covenant... but the writer of Hebrews tells us that in former times God spoke through his prophets, but in these last days He spoke most fully through His Son. The Son's message has been conveyed to us through the disciples and writers of scripture, the scriptures then, are in a real sense, God's last word to us, giving us, as Peter says, everything we need for life and godliness. (
2 Peter 1:2-4) May grace and peace be multiplied to you in the knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord. His divine power has granted to us all things that pertain to life and godliness, through the knowledge of him who called us to his own glory and excellence, by which he has granted to us his precious and very great promises, so that through them you may become partakers of the divine nature, having escaped from the corruption that is in the world because of sinful desire."
So we have all we need in these last times by the way of instruction as to how to live and to be pleasing God. So if a prophet comes along and says something that is already taught in the Scriptures, then we really did not need a "prophet" to give us the information he might of claimed to be "from on high". Secondly, all any prophet, miracle worker, etc, might say to us has to be squared and compared to scripture. Its our touchstone for all truth, so that if what the prophet says contradicts the scripture, we disregard what the prophet says, right? So either way, we see that the scriptures are God's word to us, and thus, we no longer have the need of the miraculous to authenticate the message a prophet gives. Clear as mud? lol..... anyways.... thats my understanding as to the near cessation of the miraculous.
(note: I am NOT saying that the miraculous has completely stopped, which is the position of Cessationists, only that it is not so prevalent as it once was at the time of Christ)