Why Don’t We See Miracles Like the Apostles Did?

[plainguy]

You would have to add another meaning to the word apostle(sent one) in order to make that work out. All believers are commanded to go out as part of the great commission.

I'm speaking of the foundation .. not the church itself. Eleven of the twelve suffered a martyrs death. John was exiled. The foundation isn't still being built. It is built.

Ephesians 2:19-22

19 Consequently, you are no longer foreigners and strangers, but fellow citizens with God’s people and also members of His household, 20 built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, with Christ Jesus himself as the chief cornerstone.21 In him the whole building is joined together and rises to become a holy temple in the Lord. 22 And in Him you too are being built together to become a dwelling in which God lives by his Spirit.

 

[Stunnedbygrace]

And how might this tie into the story of Israel in the desert and the insistence of some to not obey about only gathering enough manna for the day?

 

[blue_ladybug]

Look around you. Everything you see is a miracle. Look in the mirror, YOU are a miracle.

 

[notuptome]

Why did Jesus take the form of a man and die on Calvary? Why did Jesus walk among His brethren Israel? Why did Jesus do the great miracles that He did?

Why will you not believe except you see?

Heb 11:1 Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.

Jesus came to redeem mankind not to dwell on the temporal things that will pass away like the grass.

For the cause of Christ
Roger

 

[Stephen63]

Why Don’t We See Miracles Like the Apostles Did?

Are we not Spirit filled like they were or is it from lack of faith, prayer, or fasting?

I believe we experience some miracles but nothing like they did.

Hi Awakened,

Here's a scripture that may help:

Judges 2:1Now the angel of the LORD came up from Gilgal to Bochim. And he said, “I brought you up out of Egypt and led you into the land which I have sworn to your fathers; and I said, ‘I will never break My covenant with you, 2and as for you, you shall make no covenant with the inhabitants of this land; you shall tear down their altars.’ But you have not obeyed Me; what is this you have done? 3“Therefore I also said, ‘I will not drive them out before you; but they will become as thorns in your sides and their gods will be a snare to you.’” 4When the angel of the LORD spoke these words to all the sons of Israel, the people lifted up their voices and wept. 5So they named that place Bochim; and there they sacrificed to the LORD.

Joshua Dies

6When Joshua had dismissed the people, the sons of Israel went each to his inheritance to possess the land. 7The people served the LORD all the days of Joshua, and all the days of the elders who survived Joshua, who had seen all the great work of the LORD which He had done for Israel. 8Then Joshua the son of Nun, the servant of the LORD, died at the age of one hundred and ten. 9And they buried him in the territory of his inheritance in Timnath-heres, in the hill country of Ephraim, north of Mount Gaash. 10All that generation also were gathered to their fathers; and there arose another generation after them who did not know the LORD, nor yet the work which He had done for Israel.
The scripture tells us to look to look to the OT as an example. The problem I believe is called generational decline. Israel in it's infancy stood all day long as Moses read the Law to them. After a few generations, you couldn't get Israel together for a meeting, let alone get them to hear God's word.

Eventually God would bring judgment, & Israel would repent & do good for a while. A generation or two later, it would start all over again. This has actually been like this since Adam & Eve in Genesis. So it is in the modern church.

The 1st generation church was scattered by Saul of Tarsus & they went everywhere preaching the word & the church multiplied as a result. 19 centuries later, & you can't get the church go to church once a week or read their Bibles or pray.

Today, we can't people to agree that the entire New Testament is relevant. They don't believe in the Baptism in the Holy Spirit. They don't believe in the gifts of the Holy Spirit, even though it's written plainly. Goodness, many of them don't believe that being faithful is required any longer. Easy believism is the norm. They don't even agree on the excuses they use for setting aside the Word of God in the first place.
I can only summarize that unbelief is the reason thru generational decline of the church. However, this decline will be the worst of all..... the falling away before the revealing of the Antichrist.

Hope that wasn't too deep an explanation for you. I have a habit of being thorough instead of being generally speaking.

 

[trofimus]

And not as you will either. If you say the Holy Spirit does not enable individuals to work miracles, you are infringing on His rights. That's presumptuous. You have no authority to say that the Spirit will not give this gift.

The scriptures say He gives and you say He does not.

Exactly. Not as I will either.

I say only what I see (more specifically - what I do not see). The real miracles are very rare today. No matter what you say about me, or you or about the Holy Spirit.

Todays miracles are mostly hypnosis or suggestions. In the worse case lies.

There are some real miracles (I suppose), but not in as massive number as in the days of apostles.

 

[Awakened]

Hi Awakened,

Here's a scripture that may help:

Judges 2:1Now the angel of the LORD came up from Gilgal to Bochim. And he said, “I brought you up out of Egypt and led you into the land which I have sworn to your fathers; and I said, ‘I will never break My covenant with you, 2and as for you, you shall make no covenant with the inhabitants of this land; you shall tear down their altars.’ But you have not obeyed Me; what is this you have done? 3“Therefore I also said, ‘I will not drive them out before you; but they will become as thorns in your sides and their gods will be a snare to you.’” 4When the angel of the LORD spoke these words to all the sons of Israel, the people lifted up their voices and wept. 5So they named that place Bochim; and there they sacrificed to the LORD.

Joshua Dies

6When Joshua had dismissed the people, the sons of Israel went each to his inheritance to possess the land. 7The people served the LORD all the days of Joshua, and all the days of the elders who survived Joshua, who had seen all the great work of the LORD which He had done for Israel. 8Then Joshua the son of Nun, the servant of the LORD, died at the age of one hundred and ten. 9And they buried him in the territory of his inheritance in Timnath-heres, in the hill country of Ephraim, north of Mount Gaash. 10All that generation also were gathered to their fathers; and there arose another generation after them who did not know the LORD, nor yet the work which He had done for Israel.
The scripture tells us to look to look to the OT as an example. The problem I believe is called generational decline. Israel in it's infancy stood all day long as Moses read the Law to them. After a few generations, you couldn't get Israel together for a meeting, let alone get them to hear God's word.

Eventually God would bring judgment, & Israel would repent & do good for a while. A generation or two later, it would start all over again. This has actually been like this since Adam & Eve in Genesis. So it is in the modern church.

The 1st generation church was scattered by Saul of Tarsus & they went everywhere preaching the word & the church multiplied as a result. 19 centuries later, & you can't get the church go to church once a week or read their Bibles or pray.

Today, we can't people to agree that the entire New Testament is relevant. They don't believe in the Baptism in the Holy Spirit. They don't believe in the gifts of the Holy Spirit, even though it's written plainly. Goodness, many of them don't believe that being faithful is required any longer. Easy believism is the norm. They don't even agree on the excuses they use for setting aside the Word of God in the first place.
I can only summarize that unbelief is the reason thru generational decline of the church. However, this decline will be the worst of all..... the falling away before the revealing of the Antichrist.

Hope that wasn't too deep an explanation for you. I have a habit of being thorough instead of being generally speaking.

Not to deep at all. I also believe it has a lot to do with disbelief.
Jesus said unto him, If thou canst believe, all things are possible to him that believeth.

 

[peacefulbeliever]

but the bible is full on funbelief
The people who walked with Jesus though most of his teaching days taught He was dead and went into hiding until he prooved He had risen. Not much faith there.

The Bible is full of people who did not believe . . . my answer was in response to the title of this thread.

Matthew 13:58 And he did not many mighty works there because of their unbelief.

John 14:12 Truly, truly, I say to you, whoever believes in me will also do the works that I do; and greater works than these will he do, because I am going to the Father . . . (ESV)

I've heard many say "Oh Jesus is only speaking to the disciples there" or "that was only meant for the disciples" . . . I believe the verse says "whoever believes in me". That is why we have been given the gift of holy spirit and can operate the manifestations of that spirit to do the "greater works" . . . but sadly no one believes that today.

 

[garee]

Miracles are not performed by men to include the apostles. We do have the treasure of His power or authority in us but it is never to be assumed it could be of us.

It would be blasphemous to accredit the apostles for the work God performs. Therefore, making them into gods in the likeness of men. We are to have no gods before our living God ,Christ Jesus and therefore violate the first commandment. .
Miracles were two fold used parables to hide the spiritual understanding from one while revealing it to another. They actually happened to help those in doubt as to who was the unseen author and finisher of them.

We can see that with John the Baptist who was about to lose His life and therefore questioned was Jesus the one or should he look for another?

Then Jesus answering said unto them, Go your way, and tell John what things ye have seen and heard; how that the blind see, the lame walk, the lepers are cleansed, the deaf hear, the dead are raised, to the poor the gospel is preached. Luke 7:22

Those which I underlined represent to unseen, eternal . The blind see using the precept below speaks of the spiritually blind as well as the others .it is never about the temporal.

2Corinthians 4:18 While we look not at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen: for the things which are seen are temporal; but the things which are not seen are eternal.

 

[FlSnookman7]

I see miracles everyday...perhaps you're simply not looking.

 

[resurrection33]

Why Don’t We See Miracles Like the Apostles Did?

Are we not Spirit filled like they were or is it from lack of faith, prayer, or fasting?

I believe we experience some miracles but nothing like they did.

I see miracles in my own life. They might not be as obvious to others as they are to me. For example, I haven't been raised from the dead - that really would have been impressive. But the Lord, I think, needed to have some really impressive things done during his stay on earth to demonstrate what he was most willing and able to do for us.

 

[garee]

I'm speaking of the foundation .. not the church itself. Eleven of the twelve suffered a martyrs death. John was exiled. The foundation isn't still being built. It is built.

The word apostle means sent one. It does not mean the foundation of something. And the word martyr mean witness. All Christians as witnesses for Christ eventually die . No special reward.

I would agree the foundation isn't still being built. It is built on Christ not the Apostles.

Ephesians 2:19-22

19 Consequently, you are no longer foreigners and strangers, but fellow citizens with God’s people and also members of His household, 20 built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, with Christ Jesus himself as the chief cornerstone.21 In him the whole building is joined together and rises to become a holy temple in the Lord. 22 And in Him you too are being built together to become a dwelling in which God lives by his Spirit.

The foundation of the apostles (those sent by God) is Christ, not the apostles. The Catholics error by adding meaning to the word.

 

[wwjd_kilden]

The Bible is full of people who did not believe . . . my answer was in response to the title of this thread.

Matthew 13:58 And he did not many mighty works there because of their unbelief.

John 14:12 Truly, truly, I say to you, whoever believes in me will also do the works that I do; and greater works than these will he do, because I am going to the Father . . . (ESV)

I've heard many say "Oh Jesus is only speaking to the disciples there" or "that was only meant for the disciples" . . . I believe the verse says "whoever believes in me". That is why we have been given the gift of holy spirit and can operate the manifestations of that spirit to do the "greater works" . . . but sadly no one believes that today.

So then their amount of belief changed daily? Because many of them did heal people in between those events

 

[presidente]

Exactly. Not as I will either.

I say only what I see (more specifically - what I do not see). The real miracles are very rare today. No matter what you say about me, or you or about the Holy Spirit.

Todays miracles are mostly hypnosis or suggestions. In the worse case lies.

There are some real miracles (I suppose), but not in as massive number as in the days of apostles.

If you believe mriacles still continue, you believe they still continue. God could do many if He chose to?

Something to notice in the Bible is that miracles, etc. were often done in accordance or in response to the faith of the one asking, for example, the casting out of the demon of the Syrophonecian woman. Jesus said he had faith. Jesus on one occasion said, 'According to your faith be it unto you.' Paul told a man to stand when he saw he had the faith to be healed. Paul told the one who spoke in an unknown tongue to pray that he may interpret. So we can pray for gifts, too.

 

[Depleted]

We have almost none signs or miracles today, but on the other hand, we have sooo many false ones! Is it not great?

Even the convicted pentecostal "miracle makers" who were proved to lie, are still having many members in their churches.
Woo hooo, everybody can choose what he wants to follow.

As you have done too.

 

[Depleted]

Exactly. Not as I will either.

I say only what I see (more specifically - what I do not see). The real miracles are very rare today. No matter what you say about me, or you or about the Holy Spirit.

Todays miracles are mostly hypnosis or suggestions. In the worse case lies.

There are some real miracles (I suppose), but not in as massive number as in the days of apostles.

And you don't see that as your problem, instead of saying it just doesn't happen?

Real miracles are always rare! If they were common place, it wouldn't be a miracle, would it? (A miracle defies established laws. FREX: Since gravity is a law of science, someone not being affected by gravity would be a miracle. Since viruses keep spreading without antibiotics, that not happening -- a virus simply disappears -- is a miracle. Since cancer keeps spreading if left unchecked, that cancer disappears is a miracle. That a person dies if the white blood count goes above 40, but a man had 47 and it went back to normal is a miracle. He should be dead. That. Is. the definition of. MIRACLE!!!) Miracles are rare. That is why they are called miracles.

That you simply ignore the ones people told you about is on you. God STILL does miracles.

Argue all you want, God still does miracles. He simply never does them through you, because YOU refuse to trust him in that.

You've got a lot of that in you. Lots of stuff God does you simply refuse to admit he does. And then you like to argue -- with no base -- that God is the same yesterday, the same, and forever.

That too is on YOU, not God!

 

[Depleted]

Miracles don't happen much today in the western world because too many Christians find it easier on them to not take God at his word and not trust him to simply step out of the comfort zone and be used by God. They fear, "but what if I say something, what if I pray, and no miracle happens? Then everyone will look at me as a fraud and I would be less in their eyes. What people think of me IS more important than maybe God will do a miracle."

The thing is when we do step out of our comfort zone, it is often true. We do pray for a person and the person isn't healed. What does that cost us? Cost? We're not paying, we're obeying! We gain something for stepping out of that comfort zone.

What it might cost the person who is sick and really hoping for that miracle is a little lost trust in God maybe. But, no. Not really. As a disabled person I am disappointed God hasn't healed my back. BUT I count it all joy too, because God not doing the miracle on my back also means I have to lean on him more than I would if my back was good. Our aim is to lean on God 24/7, so a little more is better than a little less, right?

And yet, people come up with all sorts of excuses to not pray for another's miracles. They blame the Bible's wording. They blame God. They blame lack of apostles. They blame anything and all things except for the one true thing -- it is them. They would rather be comfortable then live in the discomfort that is our best relationship with God -- trusting him.

Notice the miracles in the Bible. Jesus used spit and dirt to give a blind person sight. He rubbed the mud on the guy's eyes, so he touched him. He put in a little extra effort even though he's God, so all he had to do was think it and ALL blind people would have seen that day. Not his plan!

The woman touched his hem. Martha and Mary pleaded to him. An action has to happen for a miracle to happen. Not that God needs any action, but as a sign of faith. THAT's the sign talked about. The sign so many use as yet another excuse to avoid stepping out of their comfort zone.

So to do nothing? Yeah, well, no wonder miracles happen less now in the west than it used to be. When you don't trust God enough to lay hands, anoint with oil, or to even expect God of doing anything, God can't use you for that miracle. One less miracle.

Multiply that by as many times as you had the opportunity to trust God for that. Then multiply that by how many others you talk out of leaving their comfort zone, and what do you expect but nothing? THAT was your plan all along, right? Nothing! Don't think God wants me to change simply because I say I follow him. It's just words, right? No action required, right?

God has used my hubby and me five times for miracles. Thousands of times there was no miracle when we stepped out. But there wouldn't even have been five times if we didn't take him at his word. There also wouldn't be "we" anymore. Just me wilting a little more because of this New Age teaching that miracles don't happen.

Miracles happen still. Unless you make sure you avoid them.

 

[trofimus]

And you don't see that as your problem, instead of saying it just doesn't happen?

Real miracles are always rare! If they were common place, it wouldn't be a miracle, would it? (A miracle defies established laws. FREX: Since gravity is a law of science, someone not being affected by gravity would be a miracle. Since viruses keep spreading without antibiotics, that not happening -- a virus simply disappears -- is a miracle. Since cancer keeps spreading if left unchecked, that cancer disappears is a miracle. That a person dies if the white blood count goes above 40, but a man had 47 and it went back to normal is a miracle. He should be dead. That. Is. the definition of. MIRACLE!!!) Miracles are rare. That is why they are called miracles.

That you simply ignore the ones people told you about is on you. God STILL does miracles.

Argue all you want, God still does miracles. He simply never does them through you, because YOU refuse to trust him in that.

You've got a lot of that in you. Lots of stuff God does you simply refuse to admit he does. And then you like to argue -- with no base -- that God is the same yesterday, the same, and forever.

That too is on YOU, not God!

I am not the one with power to make a miracle, God is. So no, it is not my problem.

 

[Depleted]

I am not the one with power to make a miracle, God is. So no, it is not my problem.

And there is the truth.

"I don't have to do anything because God..."

So much for trusting God... at all!

You proved my point. I am sad for you.

 

[trofimus]

And there is the truth.

"I don't have to do anything because God..."

So much for trusting God... at all!

You proved my point. I am sad for you.

You dont have to be. You can rejoice for me being saved and with Christ forever. Thank you for your optimism