In our
study of the Gospels, we have observed many occasions on which
Jesus performed miracles of healing, cast out demons or raised the
dead (e.g. Matt 4:23-25; 8:1-17, 26, 32; 9:18-34; 12:13; 14:13-36;
15:29-39; 17:14-21; 20:29-31). The Twelve Apostles of Jesus to
Israel
were granted authority over demons and power to perform miracles
of healing (Matt 10:1, 5-7).
In our study of the book of Acts, we have seen examples of
miraculous manifestations of the power of God in and through the
lives of believers.
-
The outpouring
of the Holy Spirit upon believers on the day of Pentecost was
attended by the supernatural phenomenon of people speaking in
foreign “tongues” – languages in which they were not trained and
which were not their native language (Acts 2:4).
-
Philip
performed miraculous signs in Samaria which drew crowds of
people, many of whom became believers and who received the Holy
Spirit when the Apostles Peter and John arrived from Jerusalem
and laid hands on them (Acts 8:5-7, 13-17).
-
Cornelius, a
Roman Centurion, received instructions from God through a vision
(Acts 10:3) which was immediately followed by a vision received
by Peter (Acts 10:10-21) that prepared Peter for presenting the
gospel to Gentiles. When Peter explained that Jesus was the
promised Messiah/Redeemer Who fulfilled the prophecies of
Scripture, Cornelius and his household believed, experienced the
supernatural outpouring of the Holy Spirit, and spoke in tongues
(Acts 10:43-48).
-
In Acts 19,
Paul encounters twelve disciples of John the Baptizer in
Ephesus. After explaining to them the distinction between the
gospel of John (a gospel of repentance in anticipation of the
coming kingdom and the coming Messiah) and Paul’s gospel (Jesus
was the Messiah promised by John and through Him there is
salvation), they spoke with “tongues” and “prophesied” once Paul
had baptized them, laid hands on them and the Holy Spirit came
upon them (Acts 19:5-6).
-
Later, in the
same city, Paul was able to perform miracles and heal the sick
(Acts 19:11ff).
These are just a
few of the many instances in Scripture of miracles and
supernatural intervention by God. What was the purpose of these
miracles? Are miracles still legitimate today? If not, then
why? If they are not legitimate, then what is the source?
Definition of a “Miracle”
Before we proceed too much further, we should pause to
define the term “miracle.” A definition provided by Lewis S.
Chafer, the founder of Dallas Theological Seminary is concise and
will suit our purposes. He states that “a miracle, in the strict
use of the word, is some special achievement which is outside the
known laws of either human experience or nature.”
In other words,
for an event to qualify as a true “miracle,” it must be something
that is outside the normal course of events that characterize our
daily interaction with nature and this world. The birth of a
child, while a marvelous phenomenon, is not in the strict sense a
miracle. A beautiful sunset observed in the Colorado Rockies or
from an island in the Pacific, while a testimony to the handiwork
of the Creator, is not a miracle.
Does this mean
that God does not heal today in answer to a believer’s prayer?
Does this mean that God cannot respond to the prayer of a husband
and wife prior to the conception of a child that the child be
healthy when otherwise the child might not have been? Certainly
not! However, the parameters by which God has chosen to visibly
manifest Himself to man today are different than the parameters
that God has chosen to establish in order to govern His
interaction with man during other periods of human history as we
shall see.
Answers to These Questions During Different Periods of Human
History
The Purpose of
Miracles Prior to Jesus’ Public Ministry on Earth
Prior to Jesus’
Public ministry on Earth, human history consisted of two groupings
of several dispensational administrations – the “Age of the
Gentiles” and the “Age of the Israel.”
During these two dispensational periods, Scripture documents
occasion after occasion of miraculous interventions by God in the
lives of men and human history. There are so many examples that
could be cited and most are familiar to even the casual Bible
student.
What was the
purpose of these miracles during these periods? There was more
than one purpose to these miracles.
-
Purpose of
miracles during the Age of the Gentiles
-
To provide
divine revelation to man – God communicated directly with Noah
and others in order to reveal His Will to man
-
To preserve
human history in spite of Satan’s strategy – since human
history is the evidence God is using in the appeal trial of
Satan, Satan desires to: 1) neutralize the testimony of God
through believers; and 2) eliminate the evidence – i.e. human
history.
-
To preserve a
lineage that would eventually produce the promised Redeemer of
Genesis 3:15 – “And I will put enmity between you [Satan]
and the woman, and between your seed [unbelievers] and
her Seed [a reference to the Messiah/Redeemer]; He shall
bruise your head [the Seed of the woman, the Redeemer, will
destroy Satan’s argument in his appeal trial and thus result
in the execution of his sentence to the Lake of Fire] ,
and you shall bruise His heel [Satan’s desire to eliminate
the Redeemer resulted in the Cross which provides Redemption].”
-
Purpose of
miracles during the Age of Israel – all of the previous
points still apply; however, there is more focused emphasis upon
Israel as a theocracy – God’s administrator during that period
of history. Also, as the lineage that would bear the Redeemer
became more specifically identified, the need to preserve that
lineage was sometimes facilitated through miraculous
interventions by God into
Israel’s
history (e.g. the birth of a child to Abraham and Sarah,
Joseph’s ability to interpret the dreams of the Pharaoh’s butler
that led to his promotion to a high position in Egypt’s
government, etc.). Finally, the authenticity of God’s messenger
and the message was sometimes validated by the association of
that messenger and message with a miraculous intervention by
God. On several occasions, the miraculous intervention
counteracted a miracle that had been or would be performed in
the power of Satan and sometimes the miracle accomplished a dual
purpose of effecting judgment upon unbelief (e.g. the Red Sea
crossing and destruction of Pharaoh’s army, the miraculous
events associated with Elijah on Mt. Carmel when God
demonstrated His superiority over the prophets of Baal, etc.).
The Purpose of
Miracles During Jesus’ Public Ministry and Life on Earth
During Jesus’
public ministry and life on earth, He performed many miracles of
healing the sick, casting out demons and even raising the dead.
He commissioned His disciples to do the same (Matt 10:1, 5-7).
What was the purpose of these miracles and how were they different
from the miracles which occurred in the previous centuries of the
Age of Israel and even in the Age of the Gentiles?
The primary
difference between the miracles performed by Jesus and those which
were performed at the hands of God’s prophets and agents who
preceded Jesus is attributable to the fact that Jesus was (and is)
the promised Redeemer/Messiah of Israel and the Gentiles. The
miracles performed by Jesus accomplished at least three things:
-
Validated His
claim to be the Son of God
-
Validated His
message
-
Demonstrated
the power of God by which the promised kingdom would be
established and ruled
During Jesus’ public ministry on earth, the gospel of the
kingdom was being proclaimed by Jesus and His disciples (Matt
10:7). That gospel was that the “kingdom of heaven was at hand.”
This message was directed to
Israel
(Matt 10:5-6) and was designed to effect repentance (i.e. a change
of mind or thinking) on the part of Israel.
The change in thinking that was desired was that Israel would
accept Jesus as the long-promised Redeemer/Messiah Who would
establish the kingdom once the “times of the Gentiles” (as
prophesied by the prophet Daniel) had been fulfilled.
As Israel (and Gentiles) saw the miraculous power of God
manifested in and through Jesus and those who carried His message,
repentance was the desired effect – a repentance that was
necessary by the nation as a whole in order for God to establish
His kingdom on earth with Jerusalem and Israel as its headquarters
and hub. Of course, this repentance en masse did not occur during
Jesus’ public ministry nor during the period of years in the 1st
Century A.D. following His death, resurrection and ascension.
The Purpose of
Miracles During the 1st Century A.D. After Jesus’
Resurrection & Ascension to Heaven
The death,
resurrection and ascension of Jesus were all in fulfillment of
prophecy and necessary to make Redemption and its spiritual
benefits available to mankind. Therefore, Jesus had to die a
sacrificial death – regardless of whether Israel would have
responded en masse to His gospel prior to His sacrificial death or
not. Scripture is very clear on the point that this response did
not occur prior to Jesus’ death (nor after His death as we shall
see).
Scripture is
also very clear on the point that the kingdom offer was extended
to Israel after Jesus’ death and resurrection. The gospel
proclaimed by Peter and others specifically identified Jesus as
the long-promised Messiah, a claim that was then validated by the
miraculous resurrection of Jesus from the dead and His appearance
to so many.
The God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, the God of our fathers,
glorified His Servant Jesus, whom you delivered up and denied in
the presence of Pilate, when he was determined to let Him go. But
you denied the Holy One and the Just, and asked for a murderer to
be granted to you, and killed the Prince of life, whom God raised
from the dead of which we are witnesses. (Acts 3:13-15)
Yet now, brethren, I know that you did it in ignorance, as
did also your rulers. But those things which God foretold by the
mouth of all His prophets, that the Christ would suffer, He has
thus fulfilled. Repent therefore and be converted, that your sins
may be blotted out, so that times of refreshing [a reference to
the long-promised Messianic kingdom on earth] may come from the
presence of the Lord, and that He may send Jesus Christ, who was
preached to you before, whom heaven must receive until the times
of restoration of all things [the kingdom and it’s temporal
blessings], which God has spoken by the mouth of all His holy
prophets since the world began. (Acts 3:17-21)
So, for a period
after the death, resurrection and ascension of Jesus Christ,
Scripture documents that a Transition period from the Age of
Israel with a kingdom-centric gospel and the Age of the Body of
Christ with a gentile-centric gospel. Christ’s redemptive work
was and is the focal point of both gospels, yet signs associated
with the kingdom were needed to validate the message of gospel
bearers. As the rejection of this gospel by the nation Israel
became full-fledged (with wonderful exceptions on the part of some
Jewish believers), the transition into the new dispensation
occurred.
The signs and
miracles documented in the book of Acts were designed to attend
the presentation of the kingdom gospel during
Israel’s
“last days” as prophesied in Scripture (Joel 2:28-32 cf. Acts
2:14-43). Eventually, as the rejection by Israel became full (the
major theme of the book of Acts) and the gospel of grace was
received with gladness by Gentiles, the transition to the new
dispensation was completed and the signs and miracles associated
with the kingdom-centric gospel ceased. Paul documents this fact
in such passages as 1 Corinthians 13:8. Eventually, during this
Transition period, even Gentiles who accepted the grace gospel of
salvation through Jesus Christ spoke in tongues (foreign
languages) which served as a testimony to Jews that God was going
directly to the Gentiles with a message of salvation and hope – a
message that a repentant Israel should have been the agents to
disseminate. Early in the Transition period, the conversion of
the Samaritans by Philip (Acts 8: 8:5-7, 13-17) and the conversion
of the Gentile Roman Centurion, Cornelius, by Peter (Acts 10: 3,
10-21, 43-48) would have been (and was) interpreted by the Jews as
consistent with Gentile participation in the coming kingdom.
Later, during the Transition period as the Jewish rejection was
becoming fully realized, the sign gifts began to wane based upon
Paul’s testimony.
Part 1 – Conclusion
The purpose of Part 1 has been to provide a general introduction to
the subject of signs and miracles documented in Scripture. There
are still several passages and questions that need to be addressed
– specifically regarding the gift of tongues and the other
temporary spiritual gifts associated with the Transition period of
the 1st Century A.D. We will continue the examination
of this subject in a Part 2 of this Special in our study of the
Book of Acts in the next session.
Part 2
In Part 1 of this special study, we noted the presence and
purpose of miracles during three major periods of human history:
·
the
period prior to Jesus’ public ministry on earth;
·
the
period during Jesus’ public ministry on earth; and
·
the
Transition period covered by the book of Acts, i.e. the 1st
Century A.D. after Jesus’ resurrection and ascension.
During the period prior to Jesus’ public ministry, we
noted that the purpose of the miracles were primarily threefold:
·
to
provide divine revelation to man;
·
to
preserve human history in spite of Satan’s strategy; and
·
to
preserve the Messianic lineage.
Also, after the
formation of the Jewish race and the founding of the nation of
Israel, the miraculous interventions by Yahweh into history were
Jew-centric (with tangential benefits to Gentiles of course).
Even so, the three basic purposes of these miracles apply.
During Jesus’
public ministry on earth, the purpose of miracles documented
in Scripture changed somewhat. The Messianic lineage had been
preserved and the advent of Jesus was testimony to that. The
primary difference between the miracles performed by Jesus and
those which were performed at the hands of God’s prophets and
agents who preceded Jesus is attributable to the fact that Jesus
was (and is) the promised Redeemer/Messiah of Israel and the
Gentiles. The miracles performed by Jesus accomplished at least
three things:
·
validated His claim to be the Son of God;
·
validated His message; and
·
demonstrated the power of God by which His kingdom would be
ruled.
After Jesus’
death, resurrection and ascension to heaven, we witness
numerous miraculous events surrounding the salvation of
unbelievers and the evangelistic efforts of believers during the 1st
Century A.D. These are documented in the book of Acts and
referenced in Paul’s epistles as well as in non-Pauline epistles.
We call this period of the 1st Century A.D. the
“Transition” period since there was a transition between the
continued offer of the kingdom to Israel and a completely new
dispensation which is commonly called the “Church Age” or the “Age
of the Body of Christ. The purpose of the miracles during this
“Transition” period were as follows:
·
to
serve as a sign to unbelieving Jews;
·
to
validate the witness and testimony of those who presented the
gospel;
·
to
fulfill prophecy.
It is critical to understand that eventually,
as the rejection by
Israel became
full (the major theme of the book of Acts) and the gospel of grace
was received with gladness by Gentiles, the transition to the new
dispensation was completed and the signs and miracles associated
with the kingdom-centric gospel ceased. Paul documents this fact
in such passages as 1 Corinthians 13:8. Eventually, during this
Transition period, even Gentiles who accepted the grace gospel of
salvation through Jesus Christ spoke in tongues (foreign
languages) which served as a testimony to Jews that God was going
directly to the Gentiles with a message of salvation and hope – a
message that a repentant Israel should have been the agents to
disseminate.
Questions and Issues Surrounding the Cessation of the Signs and
Miracles
v
What are the “Sign” Gifts?
Of the twenty spiritual gifts named in Scripture, ten were
temporary and are no longer functional or valid. These gifts are
listed in such passages as Romans 12:6-8; 1 Corinthians 12:8-10,
28-30; and Ephesians 4:11. They are divided between temporary and
permanent as follows:
Temporary
Permanent
Apostle
Pastor-Teacher
Prophet Evangelist
Word of
Wisdom Teacher
Word of
Knowledge Helps
Discerning of
spirits Mercy
Faith Giving
Healings
Exhortation
Miracles
Governments
Tongues Ruling
Interpretation of
Tongues Ministry
When
we speak of the “sign” gifts, we are referring to their more
specific purpose as regards the nation of Israel and the purpose
that God was promoting through them, i.e. a “sign” to unbelieving
Israel. As such, the sign gifts were the temporary spiritual
gifts of “healings,” “miracles,” “tongues,” and “interpretation of
tongues.” It could be argued that the other temporary spiritual
gifts could have had a similar affect upon unbelieving Israel and
that is certainly true. However, we shall concern ourselves with
these four spiritual gifts since they tend to be the most
controversial today. In addition, the gift of “Apostle” and
“Prophet” continued to a later point in the 1st Century
A.D. than did the other temporary spiritual gifts as we shall
see.
v
Why Do We Believe and Teach that the “Signs” and “Miracles” of the
1st Century A.D. are No Longer Valid?
The
answer to this question should be fairly intuitive based upon the
information previously presented; however, in the interest of
providing more clarity, more elaboration will be provided. There
are other ways of stating this question.
If signs were given for the sake of the
Jews, why should we find them in manifestation in the church which
Paul, the apostle to the Gentiles, founded? And if they were in
Paul's churches, should they not be in our churches today, if we
are supposed to follow Paul? There are various angles from
which these questions can be answered.
Answer – Their purpose was directed toward the
Jews and
Israel
even though Gentiles were involved.
While God continued to witness to the nation of
Israel throughout the Transition period, the sign gifts (e.g.
speaking in tongues, interpretation of tongues, miracles and
healing) continued. These sign gifts were performed by Jews and
Gentiles alike. The exercise of these gifts by Gentile believers
served dual and somewhat simultaneous purposes:
·
Initially, it primarily provided evidence of God’s acceptance of
Gentiles associated with the Messianic Kingdom
·
Eventually, as Jewish rejection was becoming final, the sign gifts
exercised by Gentiles provided convicting evidence to unbelieving
Israel
Eventually, as Paul testifies, these sign gifts began to cease as
the “Transition” to a new Gentile-centric dispensation progressed
to its conclusion. As Jewish rejection became final during the 1st
Century A.D., there was no longer any object or ministry for these
signs to accomplish. We believe that at that time God withdrew
these gifts.
Answer – God dealt with Jews in signs.
Paul recognizes this principle and relates it to
unbelief. He states in 1 Corinthians 1:22 that “Jews request a
sign” and in 1 Corinthians
14:22, he states that “tongues are for a sign.” In 1 Corinthians
14:20-21, Paul exhorts the Corinthian believers to be mature in
their understanding and know that this pattern of Jewish unbelief
in the face of convicting evidence presented by the Gentiles was
nothing really new. Paul uses the example of the prophet Isaiah
who indicated that Jews would not listen to God even though He
would speak to the Jews in the languages of Gentiles –
specifically the Assyrians in Isaiah’s time (Isa 28:11-12). This
pattern was repeating itself in Paul’s day and will repeat itself
during the future Tribulation when some Jews will refuse to
believe the “gospel of the kingdom” that will be preached to them
by both Jew and Gentile believers.
Other Scriptures show that God has always dealt
with
Israel
in signs. (See especially
Exodus 4:8;
Deuteronomy 28:46; Joshua 4:6; Matthew 12:38, 39; 24:3, 30).
The word "sign" occurs seventy-three times in
Scripture which is dispensationally Israelitish, and only three
times in Paul's epistles, and all of Paul's references clearly
refer to Israel (Romans
4:11; 1 Corinthians 1:22; 14:22).
Israel was born nationally in a cradle of signs when God delivered
them from Egypt by mighty signs and wonders. Christ produced many
mighty signs in proof of His Messiahship.
Signs were thus a part of
Israel's program. Christ wrought many signs, and He promised that
His disciples would do even greater signs or works (John
14:12).
In the so-called Great Commission of
Mark 16:15-18,
Christ promised that these signs would follow them that believe:
·
Casting out demons.
·
Speaking with new tongues.
·
Taking up serpents or drinking poison without hurt.
·
Healing of the sick.
We believe the reason signs continued even after
the new church, the Body of Christ, began under Paul's ministry is
this: God did not in one stroke cut off and cast away His people
Israel. That is not His way of doing things. Paul quotes Isaiah to
the effect that "all day long" God had stretched forth His hands
unto this disobedient and gainsaying people of Israel (Romans
10:21). It was not that God was offering
the establishment of the Millennium to Israel after Paul came on
the scene, but as Paul says, God was trying to provoke Israel to
jealousy by beginning a new dispensation with Paul and by sending
salvation to the Gentiles (Romans 10:19; 11:11).
Remember that the Body of Christ is a joint body of Jews and
Gentiles. Even though God had cast aside the national kingdom
promises to
Israel for the duration of this dispensation, He still had a
purpose in saving some of them before the final blow of judgment
would be struck in the desolation of Jerusalem in 70 A.D.
The coming in of this established order awaited
the complete judgment of
Israel
nationally and the completion of the revelation of truth for the
Body of Christ.
We are now in a position to answer the question
why these signs are not for us today. Not only do we have the
fact that they were designed for
Israel and that Israel has been cast away (Romans
11:15),
but Paul clearly states that these signs are to cease. After
speaking about the excellence of love in I Corinthians 13 he says:
Whether there be [gifts of] prophesies, they shall fail; whether
there be [gifts of] tongues, they shall cease; whether there be
[the gift of] knowledge, it shall vanish away. For we know in
part, and we prophesy in part. But when that which is
perfect is come, then that which is in part shall be done away
(vv. 8-10). To illustrate this further he likens the existing
conditions of the dispensation to childhood and the coming mature
condition to manhood. The sign gifts belonged to the childhood
stage, but Paul says, "When I became a man, I put away childish
things" (v. 11). Therefore, it is very evident that these sign
gifts were to cease as soon as the dispensation had grown up. And
we believe it did grow up to maturity with the final epistles of
Paul. Some people suppose these sign gifts continued right up to
Acts 28:28 and then suddenly ceased. There is no more a basis for
this supposition than for the one that God cast
Israel
aside with one sudden stroke. One who has studied the book of Acts
is aware these signs seem to gradually diminish. W. E. Vine,
Expository Dictionary of New Testament Words, states:
There is no record of the continuance of these
latter [signs, such as tongues] after the circumstances recorded
in Acts 19:1-20.
We do see Paul manifesting the signs of an
apostle in
Acts 28:5
after the shipwreck. (See also
2 Corinthians 12:12; Romans 15:18, 19.)
For a special reason, Paul was not healed of his thorn in the
flesh, even during the Acts period. After the Acts period we know
of several cases where Paul did not exercise any gift of healing
on his most trustworthy co-workers. We may not know exactly when
the last divinely wrought sign was manifested, although we do know
the final prophecy to be fulfilled upon
Israel came as late as 70 A.D.
v
What About Those Today Who Claim to Speak in Tongues – Isn’t Their
Experience Valid?
The
crucial question here is what is the source since all that is
“real” is not necessarily from God. If the purpose of tongues and
the reasons for their cessation as presented in this study are
correct, then the “source” of any tongues speaking today is not of
God. There are several possible sources of the tongues experience
today:
·
Emotionalism or emotion produced jibberish
·
Self-induced jibberish
·
Demonism (only applicable to the unbeliever)
What one may observe in a setting where speaking in tongues
is promoted is definitely real; however, all that is “real” is not
from God. Ignorant, deceived believers can have a “real”
emotional experience that is produced by their sincere desire to
do something for the Lord and conform to whatever pseudo-spiritual
pattern of behavior may be promoted by misinformed leaders.
However, that “real” emotional experience is no more sanctioned by
God than is the “real” emotional experience that is associated
with sins such as “anger” and “jealousy.” In both cases, the
experience is “real,” but not of the Lord.
Modern Pentecostal people put the emphasis upon
tongues and even claim that
one does not have the Holy Spirit if he has not
spoken in tongues. Paul classifies tongues as the least of the
gifts, even when it was in God's will, and says that he would
rather speak five words in a known tongue than 10,000 words in an
unknown one. Modern tongues people tell us that the lack of
spirituality is the reason why Christians do not have these
miraculous gifts today. Paul tells us that the most carnal church
of his day, namely that at
Corinth,
abounded in the gifts, and further that these gifts were bestowed
in a sovereign manner by the Spirit of God.
We recognize that there are a few sincere
Christians who are not Pentecostalists who agree in general that
what we have said is true but who reason that perhaps under
certain conditions today God may exercise His sovereign power and
give to one here or there one or more of these gifts. Perhaps
such gifts would be
given to a missionary opening a new field of
work. Such people might seek to exercise the gift of tongues in
the privacy of their own room, feeling that it might
come as an indication that God was putting His
approval upon their spirituality.
Such people might shy away from all of the
emotionalism and confusion of the
more rabid type of Pentecostalism, but the same
answer must apply to them as it
does to the most radical. We grant that God is
sovereign and can do anything He wants to do and no one can stop
Him. But we question whether God would go against His revealed
will and Word. We know that Jesus Christ has the power to come
back to earth and appear here in His glorified body at any time on
any day, but although He has the sovereign power to do it, we do
not believe He will exercise that sovereignty; for He has revealed
that He will not come back to this earth again until the end of
the great tribulation. We believe likewise that God has revealed
that tongues and similar gifts have been done away for this
present dispensation, and therefore we do not expect Him to
exercise His sovereignty and contradict His Word in so doing.
v
What
About Those Who Claim to Have the Gift to Heal People?
Here again, as in the case of any apparent
supernatural phenomenon, we must distinguish as to the source of
such phenomenon. Modern-day so-called spiritual “healers” are not
consistent with Scripture to put it mildly. The source of such
modern-day healing phenomenon is one or a combination of the
following:
·
Fraud
·
Psycho-somatic
·
Satanically empowered
As in the case of modern-day tongues speaking, all that is “real”
is not necessarily from God. Please note that I am not teaching
that God does not heal people today, especially at the behest of
the petition of his saints. I am decrying those who claim to be a
channel of God’s healing or possess the God-endowed power to heal
like the Apostles of the 1st Century A.D.
In the first place, the Scripture reveals that
Satan has power to work lying signs (2 Thessalonians 2:9; Revelation
13:14).
Since Roman Catholics, Spiritists, Christian Scientists, and
others all claim authenticated cases of so-called faith healing,
it is evident not all healing miracles are from God. If Satan is
energizing in these false cults, may he not also deceive even
Christians to get them on the wrong track and away from God's
purpose in this dispensation? Then, of course, there is no doubt
many supposedly miraculous hearings are of a psychosomatic nature.
Finally, the majority of cases of supposed hearings, when
investigated, are proven to be exaggerated or even fraudulent.
While the gift of healing has passed away, as
Paul said it would, we do have today what we might call elective
healing. God is the sustainer and upholder of all life. We have
full confidence in the efficacy of prayer, and we are sure God
restores people to health when it is His will. Practically all
so-called "divine healers" begin with the false premise that
sickness is the result of unfaithfulness or sin, and that it is
not the will of God that many of His people should be sick. There
are many scriptural proofs to the contrary. Paul's thorn in the
flesh, which he called an infirmity, apparently plagued his body
to the end (2
Corinthians 12:5-10). Timothy was Paul's
most faithful co-worker, yet he was often sick (1 Timothy
5:23).
Trophimus, another faithful servant, had to be left behind sick (2 Timothy
4:20).
Epaphroditus became deathly sick because he labored so fervently
for the Lord (Philippians
2:25-27). Healing was just one of the
several sign gifts. If one of the gifts is here today, there is no
reason why all of them should not be. (Dispensational
Relationships, 56)
Generally the only ones we hear about now are
healing and tongues. Why can't these people who claim to have such
gifts also cleanse lepers and raise the dead to life? The answer
is obvious. (Baker, Disp Relationships, 56)
We believe in the kind of healing for today that Paul
mentions in his prison epistles, but not in the gift of healing.
In other words, we believe that God in His sovereign mercy heals
His people in answer to prayer when it is His will, but we do not
believe in divine healers. Any one who claims to have the gift of
healing should read Matt. 10:8: "Heal the sick, cleanse the
lepers, raise the dead, cast out devils: freely ye have received,
freely give." This command of our Lord makes several points very
plain. When the gift of healing was given it enabled the healers
to raise the dead just as easily as to heal the dying. The healers
were to bestow their blessing upon all of the sick freely, without
price. If nothing more
was said than this, modem healers would be proved
unscriptural. But there is
more. The power of the apostles to heal depended not upon the
faith of the sick,
but upon the gift of healing. When Peter and John healed the
lame man at the
Beautiful Gate, they did not ask him for a big offering and
tell him if he had faith
enough he could be healed. Instead, he was asking money from
them, and they
bestowed the divinely given gift freely upon him and he was
immediately made
whole. It would be ridiculous to say that a dead person had
to exercise enough
faith to be raised up, and yet the divine healers try to
cover up and excuse their
many failures by saying that the unhealed sick just did not
have enough faith to
be healed. What a travesty upon the Word of God and the work
of the blessed
Holy Spirit. There are many, and perhaps they are the
majority, who believe that if a person can perform seemingly
miraculous healings it is a proof in itself that he is truly sent
of God. The great shrines of the Roman Catholic church boast as
many as or more authenticated cases of healing as do the
Pentecostalists. Practically every convert to Christian Science
can testify to healing through Mary Baker Eddy's scheme which
denies every fundamental of the Christian faith. So-called
Spiritualists claim the powers of divine healing. Now if physical
healing of the body is a proof of a divine work, then Roman
Catholicism and Christian Science are proved to be preeminently
divine, and by the same token Protestant
Christianity is proved to be spiritually poverty-stricken.
(Baker, What We Believe, 46)
v
If the Gifts of Speaking in Tongues and Healing are No Longer
Valid, When Did They Cease?
While we cannot know the day, nor the hour when these
temporary spiritual gifts ceased, it does appear that at least by
A.D. 70 when the Romans destroyed
Jerusalem,
these two supernatural gifts no longer had a purpose and would
have no longer been extant. In addition, there is reason to
believe that these gifts had ceased several years prior to A.D.
70.
There are two ways of stating when the sign gifts
were to cease. In line with what has been said above, they were to
cease when
Israel
was finally given up to judgment by God. We may say this happened
judicially at the end of the Acts period, but actually the
sentence was not carried out for another ten years. On the other
hand, we may say the sign gifts were to cease when "that which is
perfect [mature] is come" (I
Corinthians 13:10).
The coming of that which is complete or mature does not mean our
going to heaven, but the bringing in of the mature course of this
dispensation of Grace. (Baker, Dispensational Relationships,
53)
It is not necessary to suppose that they were
withdrawn all at a certain hour or on a certain day, but rather
that they gradually diminished and passed away during that
immediate era.) After the complete setting aside of Israel and the
cessation of the sign-gifts God brought to maturity or perfection
the revelation of truth for this present dispensation and we find
that filling up of truth in Paul's prison epistles. Therefore
when Paul enumerates the gifts in the prison epistle of Ephesians,
he makes no reference to the sign gifts. We believe that this is
the plain, Scriptural explanation of what happened to the sign
gifts, and we further believe that when one seeks to revive them
for the church today he manifests his ignorance of the purpose and
will of God for this dispensation of the grace of God. (Baker,
What We Believe, 44)
v
What About the Other Temporary Spiritual Gifts Such As Prophecy
Since We Have Scripture Written After A.D. 70?
The gift of prophecy was also a temporary spiritual gift.
The gift of prophecy, like the gifts of healing and tongues, most
likely did cease to be dispensed to believers who were not
Apostles by at least A.D. 70. However, the office of Apostle
continued to function throughout the remainder of the 1st
Century. Prophetic abilities were bestowed upon the Apostle John
at the end of the 1st Century in his writing of the
book of Revelation. These prophetic abilities which were given to
the Apostles were not designed to be “sign” gifts, rather they
were consistent with the office of Apostle and given for the
purpose of finalizing God’s revelation to man.
It is to be understood that the offices of
apostle and of prophet were also to
cease, but for a somewhat different reason. All
that the apostles or the prophets
had to give to the Body of Christ is now written
down in the Scripture. At the time
Ephesians was written there was still a ministry
for the apostles and prophets to
perform. That the gift of healing had ceased is
evident from the fact that Paul,
who before had performed every type of healing
miracle, now leaves behind sick
one of his most faithful workers (2
Tim.
4:20), and for another he prescribes a
remedy for his oft sicknesses. Surely if Paul had
the gift of healing at that time he
would have exercised it upon these most faithful
fellow-workers.
v
Will There be a Time When Speaking in Tongues and other Such
“Signs” and Miracles Ever Be Valid Again?
Yes. Prophecies regarding
Israel’s
“last days” (a period that spans the Tribulation, 2nd
Advent and Millennium) such as Joel 2:28-32 indicate that there
will be an outpouring of the Holy Spirit during Israel’s last
days. In context, Joel’s prophecy centers around events leading
up to and immediately following the establishment of the Messianic
kingdom. When we combine this passage with others that relate to
the same period, we know that the preaching of the “gospel of the
kingdom” during the Tribulation will be attended by some of the
same phenomenon that was witnessed during those early days of the
1st Century A.D. We also know that there will be
pseudo-christs and that the dictator of the Revived Roman Empire
is called the Anti-christ in Scripture. He and his minions will
be capable of performing counterfeit signs and wonders in the
power of Satan.
Consideration should be given to the supernatural power of
Satan (Rev 13:13-15; cf. Isa
14:12, 16-17).
That Satan has power to perform supernatural things is clearly
indicated in the Scripture (2 Thess 2:9).
v
What is the “Danger” or “Harm” of Believers Today Seeking to
Reproduce the Sign Gifts in Their Lives?
Believers who seek to reproduce the sign gifts of the 1st
Century A.D. are ignorant of God’s purpose in history and the
purpose of these gifts. They will be easily manipulated by false
teachers and susceptible to deception. They will funnel their
money to promote a false understanding of Scripture and what they
believe and what they do with their resources will be judged at
the Bema Seat – a judgment seat before which all of us shall one
day stand as believers. Furthermore, by pursuing and encouraging
the pursuit of such invalid phenomenon, they are setting the stage
for the deception and confusion of others.
