that is certainly strange theology. So God gave authority to the early church and work wonders thru them. Today, he does it himself and no longer thru the church? Boy that wld mean chunks of the Pauline Epistles written to the church today dont apply anymore.
No this would not mean that 'chunks' of the Pauline Epistles don't apply today. We must use good biblical interpretation when studying scripture, which includes always considering who was speaking and who was spoken to as well as the circumstances and time in which it was written. Paul's writings mean as much to us today as they did then, but there are certain portions that were directed towards specific people. We cannot say that everything written has DIRECT application to us now. Then there is also the fact that Paul actually spoke of miraculous gifts very little in his epistles. Many in Charismatic circles are in great danger of following down the same path as the Corinthians. Even if the gifts do exist they are certainly being abused!
Please remember that the ONE book where Paul spent any significant time at all on miraculous gifts was in 1 Corinthians 12-14. He did not address the issue of these gifts simply because he wanted to teach on them. He addressed it because it was a serious problem with that church. There were some who had been elevating the gift of tongues above other gifts making it seem more important and making it seem that those with this gift were of greater spirituality than those without it. (Having spent 10 years in a Charismatic church, I can tell you that this is going on again today.) He begins this topic by saying, "Now concerning spiritual gifts, brethren, I do not want you to be unaware. You know that when you were pagans, you were led astray to the dumb idols, however you were led." (1 Cor 12:1,2) Why does he bring this up? Because they were in danger of being led astray again!
again, you also simply choose to ignore the great men of God in this century who worked mighty miracles thru the power of the Holy Spirit. Heard of Smith Wigglesworth, John G Lake, TL Osborn, Kenneth Hagin, etc? or are they somehow all hoaxes to you in some big great conspiracy?
Yes, I have heard of all of these men and yes I do believe that most of what they have done was not from God. We must always remember that the performing of apparent signs and wonders does not mean the individual is from God. "...for even Satan disguises himself as an angel of light. Therefore it is not surprising if his servants also disguise themselves as servants of righteousness; whose end shall be according to their deed." (2 Cor 11:14,15) And Paul also says in speaking of the lawless one, "...the one whose coming is in accordance with the activity of Satan, with all power and signs and false wonders." (2 Thess 2:9) I am not saying that all of these men were absolutely servants of Satan himself. What I am saying is that IF they performed something that appeared miraculous, that does not necessarily mean that the act was from God. We must be careful knowing that there are false prophets in the world. Kenneth Hagin as well as his apprentice Kenneth Copeland have both been shown as false prophets since they made prophecies that did not come to pass. If you want to believe that God is over 7 feet tall and has a 10 inch hand span (as Dr. Copeland has said God showed him) that is up to you. But I would prefer to know God as He reveals Himself through His Word. Also, remember that you personally never witnessed the so-called miracles of Smith Wigglesworth. You are relying on the witness of others who are not inspired by the Holy Spirit as the Apostles were.
that's nonsense. The Bible says He gave gifts to men for the building up of the church, not to 12 Apostles. btw, there were non-apostles who had the gifts.
If you look closer at what I wrote you will see that I never said others were not given the gifts. The apostles were the first to receive them (for a specific purpose) and they were the only ones who had the ability to impart them to others.
Actually, I'm not. Look at the miracles that even Jesus performed. In every case, the miracle was used to reveal a truth about Himself, not just for the sake of doing a miracle. His first miracle was in order to manifest His glory so that His disciples would believe in Him (John 2:11); He raised Lazarus to show that He was the resurrection and the life (John 11:25,26); He healed a paralytic in order to show that He had the authority to forgive sins (Matt 9:1-8); Others were healed to show the power of faith or simply to cause them to believe in and follow Jesus. John says that Jesus did many more signs that were not written in his book, "but these were written that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God; and that believing you may have life in His name." The signs the apostles performed were for similar reasons. When the apostles spoke in tongues for the first time on the Day of Pentecost, it was for the purpose of all who could hear believing that the apostles were sent by God. And what did they hear? They heard them speaking the mighty works of God in their own languages. (Acts 2:6-11) This was miraculous because those who were present knew that the apostles were uneducated men who could not possibly have learned the native tongue of all those who were present. When Peter healed the lame beggar in Chapter 3, it opened up an opportunity to preach the gospel. The writer of Hebrews tells us that those who heard the words of salvation directly from Jesus (namely the apostles), had their words confirmed by God. "God also bearing witness with them, both by signs and wonders and by various miracles and by gifts of the Holy Spirit according to His own will." (Heb 2:4) This indicates that the purpose of these signs and wonders was for the sole purpose of confirming the message they were bringing. There was also a reason that the apostles passed these gifts on to others. Whenever someone like Paul established a church in a city, they had absolutely nothing to remind them of his teaching or a way to gain further understanding after he left. The gifts of the Holy Spirit, specifically the gifts of knowledge, prophecy and tongues, was what enabled them to receive further understanding as well as bringing to their memory the words of Paul. This is not necessary today because we have the full revelation of God through His word. The bible does need to be confirmed as the words of the apostles did.
Andrew, I respect your opinions and convictions. However, please be sure to support what you believe by the word of God not by your experiences or the experience of others.
