Stewarton Bible School

Miracles

The Oxford Dictionary defines a 'miracle' as a remarkable event that seems impossible to explain by means of the known laws of nature; and which is, therefore, attributed to a supernatural agency.

Supernatural Agencies

Besides Almighty Yahweh and His Son, there are many supernatural agents in the universe - some good and others evil. In Bible terminology we refer to them as 'angels.' These supernatural spirit beings are extremely intelligent and powerful. They can do miracles which would baffle even the most brilliant scientists of our day. In comparison to them we humans are in primary school. In the story of the Exodus we see the magicians of Pharaoh duplicating some of the miracles done by Moses. They were obviously empowered by evil angels working against the Almighty. Here is the story.
Serpents
Exodus 7:9: When Pharaoh shall speak unto you, saying, Shew a miracle for you: then thou shalt say unto Aaron, Take thy rod, and cast it before Pharaoh, and it shall become a serpent.
10: And Moses and Aaron went in unto Pharaoh, and they did so as the LORD had commanded: and Aaron cast down his rod before Pharaoh, and before his servants, and it became a serpent.
11: Then Pharaoh also called the wise men and the sorcerers: now the magicians of Egypt, they also did in like manner with their enchantments.
12: For they cast down every man his rod, and they became serpents: but Aaron's rod swallowed up their rods.

The Nile becomes like blood
verse 20: : And Moses and Aaron did so, as the LORD commanded; and he lifted up the rod, and smote the waters that were in the river, in the sight of Pharaoh, and in the sight of his servants; and all the waters that were in the river were turned to blood.
21: And the fish that was in the river died; and the river stank, and the Egyptians could not drink of the water of the river; and there was blood throughout all the land of Egypt.
22: And the magicians of Egypt did so with their enchantments: and Pharaoh's heart was hardened, neither did he hearken unto them; as the LORD had said.

A Warning

The Saviour warned about the increase of miracles in the last days - even being performed 'in his Name.'
Matthew 7:18: : A good tree cannot bring forth evil fruit, neither can a corrupt tree bring forth good fruit.
19: Every tree that bringeth not forth good fruit is hewn down, and cast into the fire.
20: Wherefore by their fruits ye shall know them.
21: Not every one that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven.
22: Many will say to me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in thy name? and in thy name have cast out devils? and in thy name done many wonderful works?
23: And then will I profess unto them, I never knew you: depart from me, ye that work iniquity.

We see here the Saviour rejecting these people, not because they had done miracles, they might well have, but because they were workers of iniquity. Iniquity is wilful wickedness. In other words, these professed believers were blatant sinners. They had wilfully broken the commandments of God. On the great day of judgement their miraculous powers will avail them nothing, because they were law-breakers. The main law they persistently broke was the Sabbath commandment. That is the commandment which millions brake with impunity. If you were to check out this claim with miracle-working preachers you will discover that it is true. They reject Yahweh's Sabbath commandments with impunity.

Well you may ask: Do they know about the Almighty's Sabbath commandments? I can tell you that they knew about the Sabbath laws before you did! Go and ask them about Yahweh's Sabbaths and you will be amazed at their reaction to them. They know all right; but they refuse to obey. They are blatant sinners, 'workers of iniquity.'

Prophecies Concerning Miracles

The Apostle Paul warns that evil powers were already at work in his day; but that just before the return of the Saviour the restraining power of the Holy Spirit would be removed to allow the power of Satan and his associates full sway to deceive the world - by means of miracles and lying wonders. The reason why the Almighty takes this unusual step is because people refuse to believe the truth. They have no love for the truth. They dismiss truth as pure stupidity, worthless garbage! Listen to this amazing warning by Paul.
2 Thessalonians 2:7: For the mystery of iniquity doth already work: only he who now letteth will let, until he be taken out of the way.
8: And then shall that Wicked be revealed, whom the Lord shall consume with the spirit of his mouth, and shall destroy with the brightness of his coming:
9: Even him, whose coming is after the working of Satan with all power and signs and lying wonders,
10: And with all deceivableness of unrighteousness in them that perish; because they received not the love of the truth, that they might be saved.
11: And for this cause God shall send them strong delusion, that they should believe a lie:
12: That they all might be damned who believed not the truth, but had pleasure in unrighteousness.

In the book of the Revelation we are told the same thing in symbolic language: of the world-wide activity of miracle-working evil spirits.
Revelation 16:13: And I saw three unclean spirits like frogs come out of the mouth of the dragon, and out of the mouth of the beast, and out of the mouth of the false prophet.
14: For they are the spirits of devils, working miracles, which go forth unto the kings of the earth and of the whole world, to gather them to the battle of that great day of God Almighty.
15: Behold, I come as a thief. Blessed is he that watcheth, and keepeth his garments, lest he walk naked, and they see his shame.

Can we see this taking place? Sure we can. Even now, all over the planet we are witnessing miracles on an unprecedented scale:

Miracles are being performed in pagan and Christian circles all over the world. It's nothing new.

The False Prophet

In addition to the Antichrist another power is soon to appear on earth. He will do miracles on a scale seldom seen by human society. He will speak peace, but in reality he will be the Agent of the Devil: performing mighty miracles in order to deceive multitudes into sin, into breaking Yahweh's Sabbath commandments.
Revelation 13:11: And I beheld another beast coming up out of the earth; and he had two horns like a lamb, and he spake as a dragon.
12: And he exerciseth all the power of the first beast before him, and causeth the earth and them which dwell therein to worship the first beast, whose deadly wound was healed.
13: And he doeth great wonders, so that he maketh fire come down from heaven on the earth in the sight of men,
14: And deceiveth them that dwell on the earth by the means of those miracles which he had power to do in the sight of the beast;
saying to them that dwell on the earth, that they should make an image to the beast, which had the wound by a sword, and did live.
15: And he had power to give life unto the image of the beast, that the image of the beast should both speak, and cause that as many as would not worship the image of the beast should be killed.

Revelation 19:19: And I saw the beast, and the kings of the earth, and their armies, gathered together to make war against him that sat on the horse, and against his army.
20: And the beast was taken, and with him the false prophet that wrought miracles before him, with which he deceived them that had received the mark of the beast, and them that worshipped his image. These both were cast alive into a lake of fire burning with brimstone.

Beware!

Most, though not all, the miracles being performed on earth at this moment in time, are the work of Satan and his evil angels. They are doing mighty miracles, capable of dumb-founding even the most sceptical scientist. But which supernatural power is behind them? The answer is:

Satan is behind them!

That is the point we are making in this article. Yes, Satan and his evil host, called the Spirits of Devils in scripture, are behind most of the miracles being performed on earth at this time. This is a fact you ignore at your peril. No Bible student will doubt but that we are living in the last days, just prior to the return of Jesus Christ. The Bible tells us that at this time devils, working miracles will abound. And that is what is happening all over the world. No religion has the monopoly of miracle workers. Were you to travel to the east, this fact would become plainly evident. The sadus of India are capable of performing miraculous deeds that would astound the average westerner. But who is behind these spectacular demonstrations? Is it the God of the Bible or some other supernatural power? That is for you to decide - soon.

These are the 'last days' and Bible prophecy is being fulfilled before our very eyes. Sabbath-breaking, miracle-workers abound in the churches. So beware! If you really want to be on the safe side, evaluate a believer by his life: look for holiness and the fruit of the Holy Spirit. But by far the most reliable test of true discipleship is obedience to the commandments of God. If obedience is absent in a believer's life, then be on your guard; because the chances are - you are witnessing a counterfeit! Remember the unfailing litmus test found in scripture is obedience. If a miracle-working person fails to obey the Almighty's commandments, then his/her performance is nothing more than a lying wonder and the work of an evil spirit, however genuine it may otherwise appear to be.
Isaiah 8:20 To the law and to the testimony, if they speak not according to this word, it is because there is no light in them.

Genuine Miracles

Is there such a thing as a genuine miracle of God? The answer is Yes. The Bible contains many, many accounts of miracles performed by true believers: the Saviour's miracles being the best examples. But first look for obedience and holiness before accepting a miracle as from Yahweh, the almighty God of Israel. If you do this you will not be taken in by lying wonders designed to make you sin.

SBS    Prophecy     The Gift of Tongues


Author: David B Loughran
Stewarton Bible School, Stewarton, Scotland
Placed on Internet 1995 ... Reformatted December 1999