Acts 19:11 begins the fascinating story of the unusual miracles God worked by the hands of the apostle Paul. Those who were sick with diseases or afflicted with evil spirits were healed by handkerchiefs or aprons being taken from Paul’s body to the sick and afflicted and they were healed. This is what God worked through those who were real apostles, not just someone who took that title for themselves, as some did in the first century and have today in our area. Christ promised that power to those He appointed as apostles (Acts 1:1-8). They had no successors in their office. He gives no one that power today.

These were real, bona fide miracles, not a so-called miracle that some claim to work today (2 Thessalonians 2:9). I have never seen nor heard of any claiming they could do what Paul did on this occasion, but I have received several times in the mail such claims. They claim, that for a “donation” you will be sent a vial of blessed “holy water,” or a handkerchief that has been “prayed over” that will work a miracle of healing. Those are fraudulent claims, and never do anything that is claimed, but they sure rake in the money for these scam-artists. They prey on the ignorance and desperation of people, giving them false hopes.

Miracles were always for the purpose of confirming that the word spoken was the word of God, during the time before the scriptures were written. When the revelation of God was completed and the scriptures were written, there was no longer a reason for the word to continue being confirmed, over and over. It was not God’s plan to continue miracles for all time, as is shown in 1 Corinthians 13:8-10 and Ephesians 4:11-13.

T or F Questions to aid understanding and spiritual growth:
1. The Bible records the record of genuine, authentic miracles?
2. Con-artists of today prey on the ignorance and desperation of people, raising false hope?.
3. God’s word shows that miracles were to end when God’s revelation was competed and the scriptures were written.