Miracles, Healings, and Tongues
Selected Scriptures
Now we've been studying these gifts and the principles upon which these gifts operate. And we found out that it's very important that all believers minister their gifts for the building of the body. And if the body is built, then the witness is effective because the building of the body brings unity and unity brings single testimony to the world.
Specifically, we began to enumerate the spiritual gifts. We found in 1 Corinthians 12 a list of them and also in Romans 12 a list. We put the list together and we came up first of all with what we chose to call the permanent edifying gifts.
These gifts were given for the building of believers. They are to be ministered among the believers and they build believers up individually and thus they build the body up as a total. But there were also some other gifts that were not designed for edifying the body. They were designed to confirm the word to unbelievers. These gifts did not have a design in connection with the church itself, but with unbelievers. They were to confirm the word.
For example, three preachers came to town and all three preached different messages and you were living in the time of the New Testament era, whom would you believe? Well, you would be likely to believe the one who performed the miracles. And even as Nicodemus said to Jesus, "We know that you're a teacher come from God because nobody could do what you do except," what? God be with him. It was obvious that Jesus was from God because there were miracles confirming His testimony.
He claimed it and then He said, "If you cannot believe what I say, believe me for the very," what? "Works sake." A confirmation of the claims of Christ was miracles. Miracles were never ends in themselves. They were always signs pointing to His claims.
Now when the church continued, the early church, the apostolic era, these gifts were given to confirm the word of the apostles and the prophets. This is clear in Scripture. They were given certain miracle gifts. They were not for the church. They were not for believers. They were for unbelievers to confirm to them that the message preached by the apostles and prophets was in fact from God.
Now there are four of these gifts listed in the New Testament, miracles, feeling, tongues, and the interpretation of tongues, or better languages and the translation of languages. That's the exact Greek rendering. Now they have no continuing role in the body we believe from Scriptures, we shall see, but existed for the apostolic era, designed to confirm the Word before the New Testament canon was completed and specifically while God was still directly doing signs in the face of Israel. We'll get into that.
Now let me suggest their nature from several passages. Mark 16. And we just want to look at these passages. While you're looking up Mark 16, let me say this. I trust and pray that you will hear what I say this morning as it is given. I believe and I have many dear and precious friends who are involved in movements that believe these gifts are for the day.
I have preached in their churches. I have fellowshipped with them as believers in Jesus Christ. And at all points we agree to disagree when we run into each other at this point, and I desire not to ride my hobbyhorse. I trust and pray to God that I'm not that deductive, but to be objective with Scripture.
I am open to anything that the Spirit of God will teach me. I pray that. I pray that God will keep my tongue from saying anything that is not of Him, at the same time knowing that it's an awful tough thing for Him to get past my blind spots. But nevertheless, what I say I say in love, and yet I say with a boldness that can only be mine from study of the word of God and I trust you'll hear it in that way. It is no reflection upon the salvation and the genuineness of many people who are involved.
All right. Mark 16:14. All we're trying to do is bring it all to the light of Scripture. Mark 16:14. "Afterward He appeared unto the eleven as they sat eating and abraded them with their unbelief and hardness of heart because they believe not those who had seen Him after He had risen." You remember the testimony came to the disciples that Jesus was risen and they weren't too sure about that.
"He said unto them," verse 15, "Go ye into all the world. Preach the gospel to every creature, he that believeth and is baptized shall be saved. He that believeth not shall be damned. And these signs shall follow those who believe." Now He says to the eleven that attending your message to confirm the faith of those who believe will be certain signs. "In My name you shall cast out demons." And here He, I believe, is talking directly about the eleven. "They shall cast out demons. They shall speak with new tongues. They shall take up serpents. They shall drink any deadly thing, it shall not hurt them." That is, they can take poison with no effect.
"They shall lay hands on the sick and they shall recover." Now here is an interesting thing. Here is a Scripture that suggests to us that these who were to go out and proclaim the message would have attended miracles. And really all of the four gifts that we talk about are here. The gift of miracles, for example, would certainly be the ability to take up serpents and drink any deadly thing and not be hurt. That is a miracle. The gift of healing is indicated here. It says that they will be able to lay hands on the sick and they will recover. And tongues is indicated here as it says they will speak with new languages.
All of those gifts then are represented here as our Lord promises to the eleven that they shall be confirmed by these gifts and by these miracles. Now if today we are to assume that anyone still has all of this that is meant for them, then we must find ourselves agreeing with the Appalachian snake handlers and with those who would perhaps from the church of the firstborn, as it's called, drink poison and so forth and so on. It doesn't work like they want it to work very often.
But nevertheless, if we take part, we must take all because it says, "These signs shall follow those who believe." If it's a permanent thing, then we're stuck with the whole thing. 2 Corinthians 12:12. We continue just to look at some passages to set a frame of reference. 2 Corinthians 12:12. Paul's talking about his apostleship here. And he's verifying the fact that he was an apostle by saying this. "Truly," now watch it, a definite article. "These signs of an apostle were wrought among you in paces - signs, wonders, and mighty deeds." Definite article. Not some signs, the signs. A definite identification of certain signs given to apostles. The signs of an apostle.
The apostles had certain signs granted to them. Now what were they? Well, apparently they were granted back in Mark 16. Now for a further word, I want you to notice Hebrews 2. Now remember, the book of Hebrews was written to just who it says, Hebrews to Jews, which becomes very important. Verse 3 of chapter 2. "How should we escape what we neglect great salvation, which at the first began to be spoken by the Lord?" Of course, they didn't hear it from Him. "But it was confirmed unto us by them that