“…those works of the Holy Spirit which are at this time vouchsafed to the Church of God are, in every way, as valuable as those earlier miraculous gifts which have departed from us. The work of the Holy Spirit, by which men are quickened from their death in sin, is not inferior to the power which made men speak with tongues.”
— C. H. Spurgeon, “Receiving the Holy Spirit”
Even in Scripture—despite what many insist—the miraculous has never been normative. And the miraculous work of the Spirit in the life of men dead in sin is in no way inferior to the work of the Spirit in that which existed in the early church.
Miracles have always had a purpose. Yet today, many are taught to believe that miracles should be constant, expected, and ordinary in the Christian life. That belief is inconsistent not only with our lived reality but with the testimony of Scripture itself, from the first miracle of creation onward.
When we read Scripture from beginning to end, we do not find miracles presented as the normal state of God’s dealings with His people. What we find instead are distinct periods of heightened miraculous activity, each tied to specific moments of redemptive revelation. If we truly care about the truth and the glory of God, we must ask why miracles increased at those particular times.
Those who desire to operate in the miraculous often seek texts to validate that desire. In doing so, they write themselves into the text, lifting passages out of their redemptive-historical context and pressing them into service as proof texts—supporting beliefs that do not arise from Scripture but must be read into it.
Those who teach that miracles ought to be normative frequently accuse those who disagree with them of “not believing in miracles at all.” That accusation is dishonest at best. At worst, it reveals either an unwillingness to deal honestly with Scripture or a refusal to represent others’ beliefs accurately. Some go further still—silencing disagreement through slander and misrepresentation rather than careful biblical engagement.
Anyone unwilling to handle Scripture honestly and let the text say what it says cannot be expected to represent opposing views faithfully. If they misuse Scripture to support what it does not teach, why would we expect them to speak truthfully about those who challenge them?
When Scripture Speaks of the Miraculous
When we examine Scripture carefully, we find that miracles cluster around key epochs of divine revelation, not as the norm of everyday life, but as God’s confirmation of His Word and His appointed messengers.
1. Moses and the Exodus
Miracles accompanied the giving of the Law and the formation of Israel as a nation (Exodus 3–14). These signs authenticated Moses as God’s spokesman (Exod. 4:1–9; Deut. 34:10–12).
2. Elijah and Elisha
During a time of extreme apostasy in Israel, miracles confirmed God’s word through His prophets (1 Kings 17–19; 2 Kings 2–6), calling the nation back to covenant faithfulness.
3. Christ and the Apostles
Jesus’ miracles testified to His identity as the Son of God and the promised Messiah (John 20:30–31). The apostles performed signs to confirm the once-for-all revelation of the Gospel (Acts 2:22; Hebrews 2:3–4; 2 Corinthians 12:12).
Outside these periods, miracles are rare, not constant. Long stretches of biblical history—including centuries—contain little or no recorded miraculous activity. Scripture itself testifies that such signs were extraordinary, not ordinary.
If you, dear saint, believe your convictions rest on mishandled texts, subjective experiences, and a false dichotomy—one that insists your beliefs must be true because others’ beliefs do not match your experiences—I take no pleasure in saying how greatly deceived you are.
Many today claim that miracles are normative, yet their experiences often prove to be counterfeit. When tested against the miracles recorded in Scripture, what is claimed today bears little to no resemblance to the true, redemptive miracles of God throughout history.
Many believe the lie because the one teaching it sells you an experience. He offers promises about what you ought to expect God to do, then irreverently handles Scripture to support his aberrant teaching. He presents a false divide: we have faith; they do not. We have the Spirit; they do not. And you believe him.
You are not taught to test what you hear. It sounds good. It feels good. It makes you feel special.
I know—because I sat among you.
I believed it. I bought it. I was all in. I plunged deeply into it. I taught it. I pitied those who “didn’t have the Spirit like we did.” I believed that if they just had faith like ours, they would have the same experiences.
But it wasn’t real.
It was euphoric experience.
It was false words spoken in God’s name.
It was manifestations falsely attributed to the Holy Spirit.
It was psychosomatic healings.
And real people were hurt by our lies and deception.
Worse—we did it in God’s name.
In our pride, we set ourselves against the true and miraculous work of God: regeneration and sanctification by the ordinary means of grace. We despised the word ordinary. That might have been sufficient for other Christians—but we believed we were special. We were going to usher in the extraordinary.
Looking back, it is profoundly disheartening.
It is with a love that those immersed in such beliefs cannot yet perceive that I write against these aberrant—and at times heretical—teachings. My words do not sound loving to deceived ears or prideful hearts. But to some, God begins to destroy the delusion, and that is painful.
Many fear that if what they believed was false, then perhaps they were never saved at all. Why? Because faith has been turned into a work. They were told that healing, blessing, and breakthrough depended on their faith, their words, their worship. When those things did not come, the logic turned inward: If my faith failed here, can it save me at all?
This is why I hate these lies.
They wound souls.
They distort faith.
They bring reproach on the name of God.
Many in churches today do not know the beautiful work of the Spirit because they are chasing counterfeits—lies of men presented as the Spirit’s true work that distract from His true work.
They know not true peace, which is a fruit of the Spirit, but a manufactured peace—one they must maintain to keep their “faith” working. They fear honest words. They avoid truth they label “negative.” This is not peace from God but peace that serves self.
They do not draw by truth, by Christ, or by the Gospel. They draw by promises of secondary things—things that appeal to the flesh and tempt nearly every man. Often even those dead in sin can see that what is being sold bears no resemblance to God. This is to their shame.
Dear saint, God does still work miracles according to His will. But they are not normative. And there are no men today endowed with apostolic sign gifts.
We have the prophetic word more sure.
Every truly regenerate believer is indwelt, filled, baptized, and sealed by the Holy Spirit. The fruit of the Spirit is the outward evidence of the Spirit’s inward work. We grow in grace and peace through the knowledge of the truth.
Let no man rob you of God’s ordinary means of grace—by which your heart is satisfied in God and you come to know Him as He truly is.
Grace and peace, y’all
Soli Deo Gloria
Leaving Beyond - Grounded In Scripture 