Whatever Happened to the Miraculous Gifts
Ephesians chapter 2. I mentioned last week, when we were looking at 1 Corinthians chapter 14, that I may back up this week to treat a larger subject of whatever happened to the miraculous gifts. And I’m going to do that. Several of you expressed interest in that. And so this morning’s message is going to be a bit different, as we’re going to treat this subject topically. We’re going to look at some broad reasons why we think that the miraculous gifts are not any longer being given.
I don’t really like having to approach a subject with a negative slant like that, but it is a question that we want to answer, and it’s a question that’s often in the minds of believers, and so we want to address that. I want to begin with Ephesians chapter 2. To put the verses that I’m going to look at in its setting, I’d like to begin with verse 11. Ephesians chapter 2, beginning with verse 11:
Therefore, remember that formerly you who are Gentiles by birth and called uncircumcised by those who call themselves the circumcision, that done in the body by the hands of men. Remember that at that time you were separate from Christ, excluded from the citizenship in Israel and foreigners to the covenants of the promise, without hope, and without God in the world. But now, in Christ Jesus, you who once were far away have been brought near through the blood of Christ. For he himself is our peace, who has made the two one, and has destroyed the barrier, the dividing wall of hostility, by abolishing in his flesh the law with its commandments and regulations. His purpose was to create in himself one new man out of the two, thus making peace, and in this body to reconcile both of them to God through the cross by which he put to death their hostility. He came and preached peace to you who were far away, and peace to those who were near, for through him we both have access to the Father by one Spirit. You are no longer foreigners, aliens, but fellow citizens with God’s people and members of God’s household, built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, with Christ Jesus himself as the chief cornerstone. In him, the whole building is joined together and rises to become a holy temple in the Lord. And in him, you too are being built together to become a dwelling in which God lives by his Spirit.
Let’s look to the Lord in prayer. Our Father, we’re thankful for the sufficiency of your word. We’re thankful for the clarity of it. We’re thankful for the wonderful gift of your word to us. We’re thankful for the gift of your spirit. And among the many ministries he has for us in this age is that ministry of illumining our minds and allowing us to understand your word to us. So we ask, Lord, that you would minister to us today by your Spirit, through the Word, and we ask that you would give us through it, then, an appreciation and a greater appreciation for all that you’ve done for us. We pray in Jesus’ name. Amen.
Well, unless you’ve just stopped in from Mars or something, you’re aware of the spectacular claims that are being made by some sections of Christendom, most notably in the charismatic movement. TV preachers, the healing campaigns, the supposed prophetic knowledge, casting out demons, of course speaking in tongues—all of it is nothing if not spectacular. And here we sit, the Reformed Baptist Church, and it seems like we’ve missed out. And I think at some points, the people of God who are not caught up in that are maybe a bit embarrassed. Why is it we don’t have that kind of spectacular experience that some others may be having, at least profess to be having?
And in fact, those from the other side often press that question to us. The early church had this experience. Why wouldn’t we? And why shouldn’t we expect to have the same kind of experience that they had in the early church? In fact, they’ll even quote verses to support the claim: “Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today, and forever.” Doesn’t that mean then that the gifts that he gave to that early church should be expected in the contemporary church as well?
Well, I don’t think so. I think there’s some obvious mistakes with that line of reasoning. And again, we’re going to take something of a negative approach to that: why it is we do not believe that those gifts continue in the church today. But I want to clarify before I get into this, that I am not considering this difference among Christians to be a heretical thing. I’m not considering that they are heretics that believe otherwise. I think they’re mistaken. And I think the implications of their mistakes do have some serious implications at other points. But many of the people today who believe in that are not the wild fringe of what you see sometimes that have been proven to be fraud, but some of them very sincerely believe, many of them very sincerely believe that the scriptures teach that we should enjoy that experience today. And it’s simply to that difference that I’m looking.
If we don’t practice those gifts today in our church, why is it that we don’t? I don’t feel that it’s something we ought to be, have to go to the negative like this, but because of the pressure from the enormous size of the charismatic movement today, and we’re kind of pressed to give a reason then why we don’t believe that, and so that’s the purpose of the study this morning.
I’ll begin with—by the way, do you have your handouts that have been given? If you do not have one, please raise your hand. I’ll make sure that you get that. We’re going to run through a lot of information this morning. It’s just impossible, I think, for you to follow without having something at least to keep your eye on to see where I am in all of this.
Some Of The Gifts Are Temporary
I’m going to begin with this, that in principle, all but the most radical of the Charismatics will acknowledge that some of the gifts are temporary. And I’ll say it again: all but the most radical of the Charismatics will acknowledge that some of the gifts were only temporarily given. And what I mean by that, then, is the focus on the gift of apostleship.
Now, in the New Testament, there is a lower sense in which the word “apostle” is used. There are the “apostles of the church,” so-called. There’s the apostles of the church at Philippi and whatnot. That is, an ambassador who was sent from the church on an errand, taking a message to another church or something like that. You find reference in this lower sense of apostle in 2 Corinthians chapter 8 verse 23, Philippians chapter 2 verse 25. An apostle is an ambassador. You might have heard that apostle literally means, from its root word, a “sent one.” And it does, but it’s more than just someone who’s sent. It’s someone who’s sent on a mission. He’s an ambassador. And there’s this lower sense in the New Testament where there’s an ambassador sent from a church on a particular mission.
But dominantly in the New Testament, of course, it’s not just an apostle from a church, but it’s an apostle of Jesus Christ that is spoken of with this word apostle. And it’s in that sense that I’m speaking now that that was a gift. The apostleship gift was only temporarily given. Now, there are several indications in the New Testament that that gift of apostleship was only temporary. The first and most obvious is the basic qualification for the gift of apostle is that they are eyewitnesses of Christ in his earthly ministry, and in specific, an eyewitness of his resurrection. We find that implied in John 15:27. I’m not going to look at most of these verses. For those of you who would like to do this, I’ll give you most of them, well, at least some of them, and you can write them down quickly and then check them out on your own. But that’s implied in John 15:27, but also in Acts 1:8, Acts 1:21 to 23, Acts 10:41, and so on.
So those who are in company with Christ in his earthly ministry were witnesses of his resurrection. Paul speaks of that in reference to his own apostleship in 1 Corinthians 9, verse 1. It’s a point that the apostle John pushes in 1 John 1:1: that which we have seen and handled, we’ve heard it with our own ears, our hands have touched the word of life. This was an important qualification for the Apostles. These were men who were eyewitnesses. Well, clearly, unless we have somebody around today who’s a couple thousand years old, he doesn’t make that qualification.
Some other indications that the New Testament gift of Apostleship is temporary: Paul says in 1 Corinthians 15:8 and following, that he was the last, the last of the Apostles. There’s more of that of the time, and also the indications of pastoral epistles that Paul is writing late in his ministry, and there the indication is, very clearly made, that the ministry of the apostles is to be taken up and carried on by those who are taught by non-apostles who come after them, teaching that which has been given to them.
So, what’s important here, really, to understand, and as I say, most everyone agrees with this already, is that the gift of apostleship was a temporarily given gift of the Holy Spirit to the Church in those early years. What’s important to say—to recognize here—is that once we see that, and once that’s been acknowledged, there really is no objection in principle that some gifts are only temporary. Most all have already acknowledged that in principle, that some gifts are temporary, namely apostles. And so we’ve established easily, and really, again, in a point that’s agreed by most everyone, that some gifts, at least, are temporary. So, in principle, at least, that much is clear.
The Gift Of Apostleship Was Foundational
And now, here’s what I want to stress a little bit more. The point that we’ve just made, that the gift of apostleship was temporary, is really much larger than that in the New Testament. And that is to say, the New Testament gift of apostleship was temporary because it was foundational. Now, it’s an important consideration I’m going to stress here for a few minutes. The New Testament gift of apostleship was temporary precisely because it was foundational.
This factor just looms large in this discussion, and we’ll see that in this metaphor of the church in Ephesians chapter 2—the metaphor of the church as a building. We find in verses 19 and 20 that the Apostles are spoken of as a foundational part of that building. Look again in verse 19:
Consequently, you’re no longer foreigners and aliens, but fellow citizens with God’s people and members of God’s household, built on the foundation of the Apostles and Prophets, with Christ himself as the chief cornerstone.
I hope you don’t think it sounds Roman Catholic to say this, but here we have it: the Apostles are the foundation of the Church. Now, there’s a more fundamental sense, of course, in which Christ is the foundation of the Church, and Paul makes that point here as well. But he’s also highlighting the unique role of the Apostles in laying the foundation of the Church, and in that sense, they are the foundation of the Church. If Christ is the foundation of the Church, and he is, the Apostles are foundational in that they give us Christ.
There’s the argument in a nutshell that the New Testament writers make over and again. Christ is the foundation of the Church; the Apostles are the foundation of the Church in the sense that they are the ones who give us Christ. We find this alluded to in Revelation chapter 21, verse 14, where the foundations of the walls are the names of the twelve apostles of the Lamb. I’m pretty sure that if the Roman Catholic Church had not abused the teaching as it has in history, there would never have been another interpretation of Matthew 16:18: “You are Peter. You are rock. And on this rock, I’ll build my church.” The whole point of the pun is to say that the apostles are the foundation of the church. And again, they are the foundation in the sense that they are the ones who give us Christ. We see that in the book of Acts, where Peter leads the way, giving the gospel of Christ to the world. And we find this emphasized in several ways from our Lord himself ahead of time. I’d like to take this up in greater length another time, but here I’ll just draw out some things to give you a flavor of this teaching in the New Testament.
In John chapter 14, verse 26, we find it promised from our Lord that the Holy Spirit will come and teach the Apostles all things. All things. All truth given to the Apostles. Now, but here there’s much going on. In the context of all of this—the larger context of it—what we have is Christ coming, the Son, from heaven, bringing revelation from God, and God’s self-revelation in Christ reaches its climax. Here is God’s self-revelation in full. God the Son has come. No less than the Son of God himself has come to reveal God. He has come to bring this fullness of revelation to the world. But in turn, He has given it to the Apostles by His Spirit, and they, in turn, have given it to the world.
And from here on, there is the responsibility of the Church not to give new revelation, but to further this revelation, and that is to promote and propagate and proclaim this revelation that was given once for all by the Apostles. And so the Apostles, in John 14, verse 26, were promised they will be given all truth. There’s no more to be given. John 16, verses 12 and 13: all truth given to the apostles. We find this reflected in Ephesians 3, verse 5, and other places where the apostle Paul, in particular, speaks of being the one who gives the mystery. He is the one who reveals the mystery, that which has been hidden in all the ages past, but now is being revealed in its fullness—the full teaching of Jesus Christ and the salvation that has come in him that was hidden in times past. But now this mystery is being revealed, and that ministry of bringing that mystery to light was the ministry of the Apostles who have given it to the Church.
And so we find sayings like in 2 Thessalonians chapter 2 verse 15: hold fast to the tradition that you have received from us, both in word and in deed. That is, this tradition, that which has been handed down, it has been given to the Apostles, and the Apostles, in turn, have handed it to the Church, and the Church, then, is responsible to preserve and proclaim that tradition that has been given by the Apostles. There is a foundational ministry of the Apostles giving it to the Church once and for all. And, in fact, that language, then, is used in the New Testament. For instance, Jude speaks of, in Jude verse 3, the faith once for all delivered to the saints. We find the same notion in the pastoral epistles as well, where we find the emphasis on the deposit—the deposit, that which is entrusted to us, we’ve given to you, and now you go proclaim it to others. That’s the foundational role of the Apostles, in that they have given us the full revelation of Jesus Christ. And of course, all of that comes to the climax in Revelation chapter 22, verse 18, where the Apostle John says, “this is it, that’s all, no more, don’t add to it.” The foundation has been laid, and that is the apostolic witness to Jesus Christ.
And so the point here, then, is that the apostles are not foundational merely because they came before us, that they’re chronologically first. That, of course, is part of the point, but that’s not the point. The point is they’re foundational in that they have given us the full revelation of Christ. And in doing that, they have laid the foundation of the church. And anyone then who acknowledges the New Testament, and particularly anyone who acknowledges the New Testament to be a closed canon, thereby acknowledges the foundational character of the apostles. And this is a point that is stressed, as I say over and again, by our Lord himself, and then by the apostles in their writing as well.
Now, notice further that this is closely tied to the apostolic foundation, this next prophetic office. You’ll see that here in Ephesians 2 verse 20: they’re built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets. Now, many have taken this, and you can tell immediately why they would—it’s an easy interpretation to give it—many have taken this reference to prophets here to be a reference to the Old Testament prophets. That is not likely the case, and most are recognizing that today. It is not the case because, well, first, the word order: “apostles and prophets.” But also, in the immediate context here, he is speaking of the newness, of the new covenant, and the new man, the new church established as a new covenant people. And in this new order, there are apostles and prophets. And then if you want further clarification, just read on a few verses later, chapter 3 and verse 5, where again, it’s expressly a reference to the prophets as an experience of that present time. That is, “now,” he says, “of the apostles and prophets.”
So, in contrast to the Old Covenant revelation, Paul is saying, “now, the apostles and prophets are given this.” So that some have tried to say, well, “the apostles and prophets” is simply a longer way of referring to the apostolic ministry itself. The apostles, even prophets. That I think is not likely the case either. The apostles are prophets in a sense. They are prophets in the sense that they bring revelation. They have brought new revelation to the church themselves. But still there’s a distinction made. You don’t have to look any further than chapter 4 verse 11 where that is clear that there’s a distinction between the apostles and prophets: “He gave some apostles and others prophets.” The same is in 1 Corinthians 12 verse 28.
Now, the point of all of this—and this is a lot of information I’m throwing at you, I know, but I’m wanting to summarize the teaching for you in one blow—but the point of all this is that prophecy, as well as apostleship, was a foundational, and therefore temporary, gift given to the Church. New revelation was given to lay the foundation of the Church. There was a finality to that revelation that was then given. And now that that foundation has been laid, we are to look to it as our all-sufficient guide for faith and practice. And in fact, to look today for any new revelation is to look for something less. Because all truth, all things, were revealed to the apostles in laying that foundation for us. This consideration is just enormously important in the whole discussion of the sufficiency of scripture. It was given once for all—all truth, given to the church. That deposit has been given. That tradition is now what we are to preserve and proclaim and hold fast to.
What About Tongues?
All of that, I think, seems very straightforward. I don’t think it’s very complicated, even though I have thrown a lot of it at you. The next question that comes up then is: having established that prophecy belongs to the foundational apostolic period, what then about tongues?
What about tongues? The answer, I think, the easiest answer, is simply to observe that tongues is treated in the New Testament as merely a subset of prophecy. Prophecy is a revelatory gift: a human spokesman, bringing God’s Word to his people. A tongue, speaking in tongues, then, is simply a prophecy in another language. And when the tongues are interpreted, it’s the functional equivalent of prophecy. Now, again, I’m just going to throw some verses here to you, and I’ll summarize them, assuming that you’re familiar with them. If not, you can look them up on your own more fully.
In 1 Corinthians chapter 14, verse 26, and then verses 29 through 31, there’s this description of tongues as prophecy. If something is revealed to him while he is there, he may speak that only in order and so on, but it’s clearly spoken of as a revelatory gift and therefore a prophetic gift. Also, in 1 Corinthians 14:2, Paul says, specifically, he that speaks in a tongue speaks mysteries, and there we are back to the mystery being revealed in that foundational period. You can relate that again to Ephesians 3, verses 4 and 5: the mystery of Christ that is revealed by the apostolic witness.
Now, if that’s the case, that tongues are simply a subset of prophecy, well then, having established that apostleship and prophecy are part of that foundational period, and therefore temporary, we’ve established the same in regard to tongues. Add to that what we saw last time, just briefly, 1 Corinthians 14, verses 21 and 22, that the gift of tongues was, for its time, a sign of judgment to Israel regarding the founding of a new covenant people. At God’s turn from Israel to a new people, it was a sign of judgment. Once that sign has served its purpose, it is no longer needed.
The Pattern Of Miraculous Gifts
Now, of course, there’s much more to say, but I want to let you out for lunch today, so let’s move on. Some other considerations. Maybe we can find a forum sometime to work this all out in detail, but here you’ll have it at least in a nutshell.
Some other considerations: the pattern of miraculous gifts. Many people seem to think that the story of the Bible, the history of the Bible, is just a long extended story of one miracle worker after another. Like the Sunday school boy who was reporting in the car on the way home from church one Sunday morning, reporting on the Sunday school lesson to his parents. And as I recall, it was stories from Joshua, I think—I mean, from Judges—and the great deliverances. And the boy, after talking about it, said, “God was a lot more exciting back then, wasn’t he?” And it seems like, to many people, that the whole history of the Bible is the story of one miracle worker after another. And it’s often treated in that kind of way.
But it’ll just take a moment’s reflection on your part to recognize that that’s just not the case. Miracle workers tend to come in little clusters in biblical history. They come, and then they go. The first real cluster of miracle working is in the ministry of Moses and Joshua, about 1400 BC. Of course, you’ve got the plagues in Egypt, you’ve got the crossing of the Red Sea, you’ve got the water from the rock, you’ve got quick and immediate judgment on Korah, Dathan, and Abiram, you’ve got the fall of Jericho, you’ve got the long day, and so on. Before then, you don’t see those kinds of miracles happening. You don’t see someone coming on the scene with the ability to perform miracles. And after their time, you don’t see it anymore. You have sporadic, miraculous things happening for a period in the time of Judges, immediately after Joshua. But finding someone with the ability to perform miracles is tough to do.
The next cluster of miracles that we find is the ministry of Elijah and Elisha, about 870 BC. You’ll remember that the rain was withheld, fire was called down from heaven, a widow’s food was supernaturally supplied, a leper was cured. I think it’s eight miracles by each, Elijah and Elisha. And again, after these men, they seem to stop, and we don’t see them. We have some other miracles occurring rarely, such as in the period of Daniel—the lions’ den, and so on—but the ability to perform miracles does not seem to be given.
And then, of course, the next cluster of miracles that we find in biblical history is around the time of Christ and his apostles. And, of course, in Christ we have the greatest display of all of miracle working. And the apostles have similar kinds of powers and abundance: raising the dead, healing the sick, Jesus walking on water, and so on. But again, history repeats itself, and the miracle workers seem to die out.
Now, I want to stress a point here for just a moment, and stress that point a little bit more, and point out that in the New Testament itself, we can find traces of the fact that the miraculous gifts are already dying out. In the earliest pages of the New Testament—that would be in the Book of Acts—it abounds with miracles. Of course, we have them in the ministry of Jesus. The earliest years of the Church’s history in the Book of Acts, we find it abounding with miracles still. There’s healing of a lame man, healing of a blind man, healing of a diseased man, raising the dead, casting out demons, miraculous prison breaks, swift and immediate judgment on sinners like Ananias and Sapphira, and so on. And it reaches its height in the ministry of the Apostle Paul in Acts chapter 19, where he just sends a handkerchief for someone’s healing.
And what’s striking then is that in the pages of the New Testament itself, it seems that these abilities are fading. A very important verse here I want you to see is in Hebrews chapter 2. Hebrews chapter 2, verses 2 and 3—and we will come back to this in a little bit as well. Hebrews 2, verses 2 and 3. I’ll begin with verse 1. Notice again the affirmation here of the uniqueness of the apostolic witness to Christ. Hebrews 2, beginning with verse 1:
We must pay more careful attention, therefore, to what we have heard, so that we do not drift away. For if the message spoken by angels was binding, and every violation and disobedience received its just punishment, how shall we escape if we ignore such a great salvation? This salvation, which was first announced by the Lord, was confirmed to us by those who heard him. God also testified to it by signs, wonders and various miracles, and gifts of the Holy Spirit distributed according to his will.
Notice here, he’s speaking of the uniqueness of the apostolic witness to Christ. It came by Christ. It was told to us by those who heard him. Notice the past tense, and notice the gifts themselves—the confirming gifts—are spoken of in the past tense as well. So here this apostolic witness was given to us; he’s positioning himself here as a second-generation Christian, and that message of the apostles was confirmed to us then by the witnesses, the miracles that were then given.
And again, we see that not only reflected here, but also mentioned in so many words in other places as well in the experience of the Apostle Paul. In 2 Corinthians chapter 12, for example, we have the famous incident of Paul’s thorn in the flesh, whatever that ailment was. Paul prayed three times for it to be healed, and it wasn’t. God proved to him other things, but the sufficiency was grace, of course. But you’ll notice Paul couldn’t heal it. We have the same thing in Philippians chapter 2, verses 26 and 27, where Paul, writing from a Roman prison to believers at Philippi, speaks of a good friend, Epaphroditus, who nearly died from a terrible sickness. Now, God did heal him, but evidently it was a sickness that was out of Paul’s control. A little later, 1 Timothy 5:23—this would be in the early to mid-60s AD—Paul advises Timothy: take a little wine for its medicinal purpose for your stomach. And then later, just before Paul’s death—this would be around AD 66, 67—in 2 Timothy 4:20, Paul writes to Timothy again and mentions that he had to leave his friend Trophimus at Miletum because of his illness.
Now the question that comes up after surveying some of those things that happen a little later, the question that comes up is: “Oh Paul, what happened to the handkerchiefs?” Before, you’re healing people, these spectacular feats, but suddenly we find that it’s just not the case. Evidently, they had served their purpose, and so they were being withdrawn. Similarly, in regard to that swift and immediate judgment that we see early in the history of the Church in the Book of Acts: we find Ananias and Sapphira in Acts chapter 5. We find Herod in Acts chapter 12 being eaten of worms. We find Elymas in Acts chapter 13—he’s not put to death, but you remember Paul kind of looks him blind. He looks at him, and the man goes blind. Immediate judgments are being passed, and we find that kind of miracle happening in the early stages of the church’s history as well.
But then we come to 1 Corinthians chapter 5, and Paul speaks of this awful man in the church who’s committed this awful sin, and he says he delivers him over to Satan. He delivers him over to Satan. But presumably, later, as we find in 2 Corinthians, he is not only still alive, but evidently has been restored to the fellowship of the church. And again, 1 Timothy chapter 1—this is again about AD 63—Alexander was delivered over to Satan. But by AD 67 in 2 Timothy 4 verse 14, he still had not been judged.
My point in pointing all of this out is simply to establish that it’s simply not warranted to speak of the necessary continuation of the miraculous gifts. One, they were never the rule. They were never the norm in biblical history. They were the exception. They would come and they would go. They never were continuous. And two, we see it fading even in the pages of the New Testament itself. Indeed, then, the presumptive evidence indicates that we should not expect the continued experience of the miraculous as they did in the early church. If all we did was look at it from the history of the miraculous gifts given in biblical history, we would have to assume that they were only temporarily given.
What Was The Purpose Of The Miraculous Gifts?
Now, all of that, in turn, brings us to our next point, and that is: what is the purpose of the miraculous gifts? Why were they given? Were they given just haphazardly? Were they just given so let’s have some excitement now? What was the purpose of the miraculous gifts, and then why were they withdrawn? We must assume that God had a purpose in it. What was it?
Well, it’s interesting that each cluster of miracles seems to occur at a critical juncture in redemptive history. At each point, the miraculous—or put it this way: the miracle worker, through his miracles—is calling attention to the new revelation that is then being given, and therefore, attesting to the authority of the miracle worker and his message. Let me say all that again. Evidently, the miracles were given to the miracle workers in order to call attention to the new revelation that was given, and to give affirmation to the authority of the miracle worker, and then of course, attest to the truthfulness of his message, that it is indeed from God.
Now, that’s not just a guess on our part. Think through this quickly again. The miracles of Moses and Joshua were introductory to the Pentateuch and to the historical literature, affirming as well the authority of God’s leaders, Moses and Joshua. During the ministry of Elijah and Elisha, Israel was at an all-time spiritual low, and God sent these men to call Israel to covenant faithfulness. It’s recorded for us now in Kings and Chronicles. And he affirmed their authority with their ability to work miracles as well. And turning to the New Testament, Christ and his apostles brought the new and full revelation from God, and their authority and the truth of their message was validated by their miracles. And a very important statement here is in 2 Corinthians 12 and verse 12, where Paul speaks of the miraculous gifts as the “signs of the Apostle.” Signs of the Apostle. That is, these are affirming of their credibility. Affirming—how do you know that the Apostles were true in what they spoke? How do you know they were from God? Answer: the miracles declared it. Only God can do that.
Now, this is the significance of the term that is often used in the New Testament in the Gospels regarding miracles, especially in the Gospel of John. In the Gospel of John, the word for miracle is simply “sign.” Now, we have it translated in our version, I think, in the New International, translated “miraculous sign,” but the word is simply “sign.” “This is the first of his signs,” as Jesus changes the water into wine. The miracles are simply referred to as signs because their significance is they attest to the credibility and the authority of the one performing them. You find that throughout the Gospel of John. You find it in Romans chapter 15, verse 19. God affirms the truth of this new revelation by the miracles that are being performed.
Again, this is its stated purpose. If you want to write down some verses quickly: Exodus 4:1-5, in regard to Moses, God says, “perform these things, that they may believe that the Lord God of their fathers has appeared to you.” In 1 Kings 18, verse 36, Elijah performs his miracles “that they may know that I am your servant.” There’s a confirming purpose to the miracles. In Matthew chapter 11, Jesus was asked by the followers of John the Baptist, “are you the Messiah?” And Jesus points to his miracles in response to give attestation to his ministry. In Acts chapter 2, verse 22, Jesus’ ministry, Peter says, was “approved of God among you by miracles and wonders and signs.” That was their purpose. And likewise, the Apostle Paul’s ministry was confirmed by his miraculous gifts. 2 Corinthians 12:12 again: these are signs of the Apostle.
Well now, the need for this kind of authentication is obvious. Picture yourself as a first-century, faithful, believing Jew. And here comes a guy who’s calling himself the Apostle of the Messiah. And he tells you about this new religion that’s starting. In fact, he’s not only telling you a new religion is starting, he’s telling you that that old order is gone. And you just might be tempted to tell him where he’s going. After all, that old order was given from God, wasn’t it? And who are you to come along and say that Moses is now passé? And then you see the man performing these great miracles. And he says he’s speaking from God. And there’s something about this man that’s hard to deny. Where does he get this power? They are attesting to his authority. That was their function.
And so again here, in Hebrews 2, verses 3 and 4, this message was given to us, and it was confirmed by those who heard him, testifying of it by signs and wonders and miraculous gifts. So, again, we have the past tense, the confirming purpose, and again drawing attention to the uniqueness of the apostles. The point here, then, is that the gifts were given to confirm and to affirm the authority of the preachers of the new revelation that was being given. That purpose served, the gifts are no longer needed.
The Testimony Of Everyday Experience
Very quickly here, the next point may seem a little odd here, but I would point to that. We’re always looking to the scriptures as our authority and not experience. But I think you’ll see that there’s a valid point here to be made. The next point on your outline is the testimony of everyday experience.
My point here is just simply to have you think. The claims of the miraculous that you are hearing today, do they compare in any way with what you see in Jesus and the apostles? They can claim the continuation of the miraculous gifts all they like, but we don’t see anyone today going to a grave, telling people to dig it up, and then calling the man out. And we don’t see anyone today walking on water. And interestingly, one of the common miracles you see in the Bible is a healing of leprosy, and that’s one we never see today. Wouldn’t missionaries love that? We don’t see people healing blind men—people born blind—or people born lame. We just don’t see it. The miracles that we see in the New Testament are a class by themselves. And the claims today, if you just look at them calmly, have pale insignificance.
I have one missionary friend, and he is a friend, a good friend. He believes in the continuation of the miraculous gifts. We’ve discussed our differences over it. He told me one day that he had a very important funeral to preach in the mission field where he was, and he’s still learning the language. He said he’s not very fluent with it yet. He’s able to teach Bible studies weekly, and he preaches weekly, but he’s not really great at the language yet. He said that day at the funeral—it was an important funeral, and lots of people were there who were lost—he said, “that day at the funeral when I was preaching, I was so fluent in the language.” He said, “I’m telling you, friends, you get the tongues.” And I’m thinking, if that’s the gift of tongues, okay. It’s just not what we see on Pentecost, is it? And the claims to the miraculous today simply don’t deserve to be called a continuation of what we see in the New Testament. Now, again, I’m not denying that God can perform miracles. I’m not denying that God can heal miraculously. I can give you testimony to that from our own home. But I am saying that it seems that the ability to perform those miracles seems to have been withdrawn.
The Promise Of Christ
And then lastly, and this brings us, I think, a full circle: the promise of Christ. And I want you to see this in John chapter 14. John chapter 14, verse 12, which I think is a very important verse in this discussion. John chapter 14, verse 12:
I tell you the truth, anyone who has faith in me will do what I have been doing. He will do even greater things than these, because I am going to the Father.
What he seems to be saying is that “I will go to the Father, and in consequence, you will receive the gift of the Spirit that’s been promised. And in consequence to that, you will do greater things than I’ve done.” How many here have done anything greater than what Jesus did? Have you called someone out of a grave? Have you walked on water? And in all the exposure you’ve had to those who claim to have the miraculous gifts, have you seen, even heard of anyone who’s done greater miracles than what Jesus did? Jesus’ miracles are in a class by themselves, aren’t they? No one has done what he did.
What, then, does Jesus mean when he says, “you will do greater things than I have done”? And I think the only answer, the only answer that can be given to that, is that the miracles that Jesus performed—wonderful, spectacular, awesome, as they were—only met man’s superficial needs temporarily. We’re left to think that those raised from the dead died. Those who were fed miraculously got hungry again. Those who were healed of illnesses got sick again. But He has given us, by the power of the Spirit working through the Gospel, the ability to do something even greater, and that is meet men’s most basic need permanently.
And Jesus is simply saying that greater than all of this is that which I’ve called my people to do, and every—even the least of the believers today, the person who has been saved ten minutes—can take the gospel of Jesus Christ and do greater things than any of those miracles did. And what Jesus is calling us to here is back to a recognition of the foundational importance of the apostolic witness to Christ, and it is by this means that God works. And we find that in 1 Corinthians as well. We’ve seen in the early chapters of 1 Corinthians where the Apostle Paul says, “you want to see the spirit of God at work? Watch him work through the gospel and bring men to life.” That is the demonstration of the Spirit’s power.
Typically, Charles Spurgeon says this better than anyone else does, so I’m going to read it to you. He’s commenting on this verse:
He sent them forth to work miracles as well as to preach. Now, he has not given us this power, neither do we desire it. It is more to God’s glory that the world should be conquered by the force of truth than by the blaze of miracles. The miracles were the great bell of the universe which was rung in order to call attention to all men all over the world to the fact that the gospel feast was spread. We do not need the bell now, for the moral and spiritual forces of the truth to work by themselves apart from any physical manifestation is more to the glory of the truth and the Christ of the truth than if we were all miracle workers and could destroy gainsayers. Yet still, though we work no miracles in the physical world, we work them in the moral and spiritual world.
Jesus’ point here is simply then that his ministry of miracles would be supplanted by something else and something greater: a ministry of spiritual healing. And this ministry, he says, is greater than the other. And so we end where we began, and that is an affirmation of the primary importance of the apostolic witness to Christ. God has spoken climactically in his Son. That word was entrusted to the apostles who in turn gave it to the church once and for all. Confirmation of that message was historically given, and attention now must be given to that revelation itself and not to its confirming signs. This is the means by which God works the great miracle of salvation. This is the means by which God transforms souls.
And this is why I asked Pastor Greg earlier to read us the account of Luke chapter 16. Send Lazarus! Send Lazarus from the dead to tell them! They’ll believe if someone rose from the dead! Jesus says they have Moses and the prophets. They won’t hear the scriptures; they won’t believe even if someone were to rise from the dead. And, in fact, they haven’t.
This, then, is why our services at our church center on the exposition of the Word of God. We do not come together to stir up emotional highs. We do not come together to create spectacular excitements. We come together to hear from God and to grow by this truth that was once for all delivered to the saints. Amen.
Let’s pray. Our Father, what a great privilege it is to have your word. I pray that you will give us a greater confidence in it. Give us a sense of the privilege that is ours to hear this full revelation, to give our attention to it, to hear more then about the fullness of grace that has come in the Lord Jesus Christ. We pray in His name. Amen.
I’d like you to take your hymnals please and turn to number 676.