Again, I am not convinced by miracles alone that are done today. When I say my faith is in God's Word, I am referring to the Bible as my ultimate authority. While I could be wrong, the Bible appears to tell me that the miraculous gifts given to the apostles have ceased. Now, does not mean that God cannot do miracles? No. It merely means that the miraculous gifts given to the early apostles given by the Spirit appears to no longer be in operation today.
First, the three greatest prophets and miracle workers in the Bible are Moses, Elijah, and Jesus. We see that the miracles that they performed were a way to authenticate them as a messenger from GOD and the Word of God that they provided (that would be immortalized into Scripture). We notice that after each of these prophets, there was a time of silence where no miracles were done. Just like with the prophets Moses, Elijah, and Jesus, miracles authenticated the apostles' message as from God. "And they (apostles) went forth, and preached everywhere, the Lord working with them, and confirming the Word with signs (tongues, prophecies, healing, etc.) following. Amen."
Mark 16:20.
Second, we can see that after the book of Acts, the gifts no longer operated in Paul’s life like they once had. The sign gifts, tongues, prophecy, the gift of healing, etc. were operating all through the Book of Acts, and these gifts are mentioned in the letters that Paul wrote during the Acts period. But when we turn to the letters written after the Book of Acts—the 4 Prison Epistles, and the 3 Pastoral Epistles, we find that the sign gifts either aren’t mentioned at all or we see—as with the gift of healing—that they were no longer operating in Paul’s life. What he could do in
Acts of the Apostles 28, he could no longer do in Philippians, or in 1 and 2 Timothy. He could heal all the sick on the island in
Acts of the Apostles 28:9, but he couldn’t heal any of his closest co-workers—Timothy, Epaphroditus, Trophimus—after the close of the Book of Acts (See this article
here for the full explanation).
Three, while God can heal people directly Himself today, the gift of miracles is not given to any one believer that we know today. No Charismatic can always heal. Yet, the Bible says that they shall lay hands on the sick, and they shall recover. This means 100% recovery all the time. No one can do this today, as the apostles could in
Acts of the Apostles 5:12-16. "By the hands of the apostles were many signs and wonders wrought among the people.....they (believers) brought forth the sick into the streets.....and they were healed every one". (
Acts of the Apostles 5:16).
Four, New revelation (prophecy) or new words from God are not to be added (
Revelation 22:18-19). If a person were to add to God’s Word, the plagues that are within the book known as the Bible (not the plagues in Revelation) would be added to them. We have occurrences of this actually happening. See these two links here:
Bible Correctors lose Voice Bible Corrector Loses Voice on Ankerberg Show.
Five, is your church following the rules of 1 Corinthians 14?
"If any man speak in an unknown tongue, let it be by two, or at the most by three, and that by course; and let one interpret."
(1 Corinthians 14:27).
"They must speak one at a time,"
(1 Corinthians 14:27) (NLT).
"But if there be no interpreter, let him keep silence in the church;"
(1 Corinthians 14:28).
#1. Does your church speak in tongues only by 2 or 3 at most?
#2. Do those who speak in tongues each speak individually in turn and not all at the same time?
#3. If there is no interpreter, do those who speak in tongues keep silent?
