Where are the Miracles?

In the book of Galatians, we find an important mention of the working of miracles that speaks to us and gives us a snapshot of the place that miracles had in the life of the early church. Paul had a discussion with the Galatian church about works vs. grace and posed a question concerning the existence of miracles in their midst:

[Gal 3:5 KJV] 5 He therefore that ministereth to you the Spirit, and worketh miracles among you, [doeth he it] by the works of the law, or by the hearing of faith?

We can see by this statement that miracle workers were commonplace in the early church.

[1Co 12:7-11 KJV] 7 But the manifestation of the Spirit is given to every man to profit withal. 8 For to one is given by the Spirit the word of wisdom; to another the word of knowledge by the same Spirit; 9 To another faith by the same Spirit; to another the gifts of healing by the same Spirit; 10 To another the working of miracles; to another prophecy; to another discerning of spirits; to another [divers] kinds of tongues; to another the interpretation of tongues: 11 But all these worketh that one and the selfsame Spirit, dividing to every man severally as he will.

Miracles are part of the gifts of the Spirit given to EVERY MAN to “profit withal”. Miracles were understood to be an EVERY MAN provision to those that were believers in the Lord Jesus Christ in the early church community. If miracles then were to suddenly no longer be present in an early church community, there would be an instant consensus that something was drastically wrong.

[1Co 12:28 KJV] 28 And God hath set some in the church, first apostles, secondarily prophets, thirdly teachers, after that miracles, then gifts of healings, helps, governments, diversities of tongues.

Where are the miracles? If we want to find out where they went and how to see them return, we must look at how they came in initially. In the first century, the existing culture went from having little or no miracles and transitioned into a time when miracles were commonplace. This was preceded by events that are reflected in the above verse (1 Cor. 12:28).

1. God hath set some in the church:

[Eph 4:8-12 KJV] 8 Wherefore he saith, When he ascended up on high, he led captivity captive, and gave gifts unto men. 9 (Now that he ascended, what is it but that he also descended first into the lower parts of the earth? 10 He that descended is the same also that ascended up far above all heavens, that he might fill all things.) 11 And he gave some, apostles; and some, prophets; and some, evangelists; and some, pastors and teachers; 12 For the perfecting of the saints, for the work of the ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ:

2. First apostles, secondarily prophets, thirdly teachers… AFTER THAT, miracles…

   We can see by looking at this scripture that miracles were present after something else takes place. In asking where the miracles are, we have to realize that we really aren’t asking the right question. If miracles came AFTER apostles, prophets, and teachers, we then must ask, where are the apostles? Where are the prophets? Where are the teachers?

3. In the centuries following the birth of the church, historians have noted that apostles disappeared first from the scene, the prophets, and then teachers. By the time the church moved into the early Middle Ages there was little or no existence of teachers or teaching, and the masses of people were left in total ignorance, depending on the liturgical services of a cloistered clergy to dispense to them the emblems of communion that were understood at that time to be the only path to salvation.

   We can see then that the apostles, prophets, and teachers were lost first.

4. In the last 500 years, we have seen the birth of the evangelical church and the restoration of the word of God in the common language of the people. In looking at the loss of apostles, prophets, and teachers, the understanding of those with prophetic insight has been that the FIRST TO BE LOST (apostles) would be the LAST TO BE RESTORED.

   In the ’60s and ’70s, the ministry of the teacher was restored to the church, evidenced by the sweeping emphasis in those decades on “teaching centers” and the establishing of schools such as Christ for the Nations in Texas and Rhema Bible Institute in Oklahoma, etc.

   In the ’80s and ’90s, the prophet was restored to the church beginning when David Wilkerson announced that he was called to the office of the prophet (which he immediately reversed himself, but it was too late – he had rung a bell that could not be unrung). We then saw Bill Hamon come on the scene, establishing Christian International and a school of the prophets that has released thousands of men and women moving in prophetic office around the world. Not least, we could mention ministries like Elijahlist, Patricia King, Kim Clement, Chuck Pierce, and others giving evidence that there is a presence of Prophetic Office in their earth that the world cannot ignore and the church has not been able to marginalize.

5. 5. What next? The teacher has been restored. The prophet has been restored. Now, according to 1 Cor. 12:28, we look for the restoration of the power and office of the apostle to come forth and be re-established on the earth. The early church fathers looked to our time, believing when they read Rev. 12 that there would be 12 finishing apostles before the coming of the Lord, just like there were 12 founding apostles in the first century after the resurrection of Christ:

      [Rev 12:1 KJV] 1 And there appeared a great wonder in heaven; a woman clothed with the sun, and the moon under her feet, and upon her head a crown of twelve stars:

   6. In 1 Cor. 12:28, we see that prophets are restored before apostles. Prophets precede apostles for the same reason that John the Baptist preceded Jesus – to enunciate His ministry and His coming.

      [Jhn 1:26-27, 33 KJV] 26 John answered them, saying, I baptize with water: but there standeth one among you, whom ye know not; 27 He it is, who coming after me is preferred before me, whose shoe’s latchet I am not worthy to unloose. … 33 And I knew him not: but he that sent me to baptize with water, the same said unto me, Upon whom thou shalt see the Spirit descending, and remaining on him, the same is he which baptizeth with the Holy Ghost.

      John understood his ministry to be primarily to identify and proclaim Jesus as the “apostle and high priest of our profession” according to Heb. 3:1. Once he had fulfilled his mission, he then understood his role according to John 3:30:

      [Jhn 3:30 KJV] 30 He must increase, but I [must] decrease.

      When the day came that he struggled with this mandate (Matt. 11:3), very shortly after he was taken off the scene (Matt. 14:10).

6. God is raising up deferential prophets to acknowledge the apostles in their midst. Who are the apostles?

   They are initiators. They are those moved by the spirit of God to get away from the works of other men and to build churches and ministries from the ground up (Rom. 15:20).

   They are spiritual fathers who want to see those they minister to excel and succeed, standing upon their shoulders, rejoicing as others build upon the foundations they have laid (1 Cor. 3:10; Gal. 4:19).

They were understood to have a spiritual “bishopric” or staff of office given by Jesus Himself (Acts 1:20). This is a very interesting word. Among other things, it means “visitation”, implying that these men and women are carriers of the glory of God in their generation, bringing in themselves in a very personal way the outpouring of God – they are, in effect, “the visitation” and to be connected with them is to be connected with the very heart of what God is doing in your generation, your community and your church.

[Act 5:15 KJV] 15 Insomuch that they brought forth the sick into the streets, and laid [them] on beds and couches, that at the least the shadow of Peter passing by might overshadow some of them.

8. Where are the miracles? Where are the apostles? Who is the teacher you defer your knowledge to and allow that person to shape your understanding by anointed insight into the word of God?

Where are the prophets? Who is the prophet in your life? Just as you need a pastor, you need a prophet who is tasked by God to speak into your life, to activate your destiny, and provoke you to move from passivity to Holy Spirit activism as a dynamic member of the vibrant body of Christ, taking your city for God?

Who is the apostle in your life? Where is the man scorned by others, marginalized by those who are nothing more than self-appointed mockers? Where is the man who is providentially laying down his life to establish a foundation in God in your city, not as a dictatorial, narcissistic strutting little religious Napoleon – but a tender father, filled with the love of God seeking to see Christ formed dramatically in your life who takes your shortcomings as his failures, and attributes your successes wholly to the glory of God?

When you identify these giftings and defer to them from the heart with an all-out commitment, just as the early church did, then you will see signs, miracles, and wonders visited in your midst on a radical scale. They will come by no process other than this simple, revealed course in 1 Cor. 12:28.