There are men in Scripture who had faith in God and called for miracles: Moses at the Red Sea, Joshua in the valley of Ajalon, and Elijah on Mount Carmel (see Exod. 14; Joshua 10; 1 Kings 18). There are others in Scripture who also had faith in God but experienced no miracles: Abraham, David and John the Baptist.
Certainly God can still do miracles––be it healing the sick on the one hand or moving mountains on the other. Whether or not it is His will to do so is another matter. Elijah in his day had the mind of God and in the power of his faith and in his knowledge of the divine will he could pray “Answer me, Jehovah, answer me, that this people may know that thou Jehovah art God, and [that] thou hast turned their heart back again”. The result was a miracle: “And the fire of Jehovah fell” (1 Kings 18: 37, 38). John the Baptist likewise in his day knew the will of God and exercised faith in that same God. He had the testimony from the Lord Jesus Himself “that there is not arisen among [the] born of women a greater than John the baptist” (Matt. 11: 11) and yet we have the record “John did no sign” (John 10: 41). Now I judge our service today to be similar to his: he called attention to Christ and to His work (see John 1: 29, 36) and so should we.
The presence of miracles is not the hallmark of faith nor does the absence of miracles indicate the absence of faith. Faith in miracles does not equate to faith in God. From the record of Scripture it is clear that Judas performed miracles yet it also plain that he had no faith. The Lord speaks of some in a future day who claim “have we not … through thy name done many works of power?” - a claim He does not deny while still avowing “I never knew you. Depart from me, workers of lawlessness” (see Mat. 7: 21–23)! In the light of the present obsession with signs and wonders, we do well to remember His words on a related subject (but equally applicable to miracles): “Yet in this rejoice not, that the spirits are subjected to you, but rejoice that your names are written in the heavens” (Luke 10: 20).
