‘In the first letter to the Corinthians, chapters 12 through 14, some of the wonderful and supernatural gifts of the Holy Spirit are listed for us, and we are told to eagerly desire them, especially the ‘greater gifts’ as Paul calls them, which includes the gift of healing (12:31). Why are we to eagerly desire these gifts? The answer is for God’s glory, not for our entertainment; because in receiving and using these spiritual gifts we edify and build up the church and bring much honour and glory to God. This begs the question then, if we don’t eagerly desire the greater gifts the Holy Spirit bestows, well then, we are not actually doing what the Word of God implores us to do, and we can then end up quashing the Spirit or suggesting maybe that God doesn’t do miracles anymore!

It is entirely possible that major miracles, such as healing the blind or the crippled or raising the dead etc., may have dried up here in the West, for a time maybe, but the Bible says nothing about such miracles ceasing altogether or that the ‘greater spiritual gifts’ are no longer needed or available. In fact, quite the opposite: Jesus said in John 14v12, ‘I tell you the truth, anyone who has faith in me will do what I have been doing. He will do even greater things than these.’ Does that actually mean we will do even greater miracles that Jesus did? Well maybe not greater in quality but certainly there has been a greater quantity of miracles since Jesus walked the earth! (We don’t know how many people Jesus healed altogether but there are accounts of thirty healings recorded in the four gospels.)

When it comes to major miracles, maybe God has chosen to be ‘silent’ for a time here in the West, but isn’t that His right, if He chooses? God, in a sense, was ‘silent’ when He allowed the Israelites to remain in Egypt for 430 years… but then God sent Moses who performed many miraculous signs and wonders and the people were set free. I wonder if the Israelites in Egypt said God doesn’t do major miracles anymore! We mustn’t quash the Holy Spirit; we mustn’t limit God or use the argument of ‘silence’ to suggest that God is no longer active in performing miracles.’

R. Ian Seymour, Empowered Personal Evangelism, Weybridge: New Wine Press (2014), p.175-176