And God was doing extraordinary miracles by the hands of Paul, so that even handkerchiefs or aprons that had touched his skin were carried away to the sick, and their diseases left them and the evil spirits came out of them. Acts 19:11-12

With all due respect to Christians who believe and teach that every Christian in every time should experience, and even expect miracles, the Bible teaches no such thing. The text before us (like others in Acts) specifies that the Lord did miracles at specific times through His specially appointed servants. Miracles were performed by Jesus, of course, and by the Apostles and some of their closest associates. It is never recorded that every Christian can perform miracles at will—regardless of their faith.

The pattern throughout the Bible is that those who spoke for God (Prophets and Apostles) were enabled to perform miracles as a means of validating the trustworthiness of God’s communication through them. This is why Jesus performed such an inordinate number of miracles, since His message was of the greatest importance of all. Likewise the Apostles, since they were laying the groundwork for the New Testament church and writing the New Testament.

Texts like Acts 19:11-12 record God performing miracles using even Paul’s handkerchief. Modern hucksters who claim to do the same should be soundly rejected. And yes, some of the so-called healing evangelists have sent out scraps of cloth that have been touched by these false prophets (for money, of course!) promising that if you place the scrap of cloth on your physical problem it will be healed.

Not only are these kinds of gimmicks shamelessly false, so are the doctrines peddled by them.

Let us rejoice in the true miracles recorded in the Bible and reject the false miracles and those who peddle them in our day.