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Temporary Gifts
THE TEMPORARY GIFTS
I. Apostle
A. Etymology
1. The Greek word is APOSTOLOS. When used without a definite article, as in Colossians 1:1, the high quality of the noun is emphasized. "Paul, an apostle of Jesus Christ." Paul had the highest rank ever given to a member of the Royal Family of God in the Church Age. As a Roman citizen, Paul carried authority in the Middle East. As a Pharisee, Paul carried authority in Judea. But as an apostle in the Royal Family of God, Paul reached the peak of rank and authority.
2. APOSTOLOS, an Attic Greek word, was already 500 years old when used in the New Testament. It was originally used for a high-ranking admiral or general officer chosen by a counsel to command either an army or an Athenian fleet on a military expedition, generally against the Spartans.
3. Its third meaning, used less extensively, was for whomever was in command of a band of Greek colonists when they would leave Athens and go elsewhere to establish a Greek colony. The governor of the founded colony was called an APOSTOLOS.
4. Hence, the word connotes command responsibility. Both uses of APOSTOLOS, for a commander of a military or naval expedition and for the governor of a Greek colony, are found in the New Testament.
5. This word is used in the New Testament epistles in a special way for a temporary spiritual gift. There are certain spiritual gifts which were temporary because there was no Scripture for the Church Age to explain the protocol plan of God. It had not yet been reduced to writing. The highest of all these temporary spiritual gifts was apostleship.
B. New Testament Use of APOSTOLOS.
1. Until the Canon of Scripture was completed and circulated, apostleship was a gift of super-authority beyond the local church level.
2. There were two categories of apostles in the early church which correspond with the two uses of APOSTOLOS:
a. The twelve men with the spiritual gift of apostleship, analogous to the commander of a military or naval expedition.
b. Pioneer missionaries as a delegated function in the early church, analogous to the founder and governor of a Greek colony.
C. The Spiritual Gift of Apostleship.
1. The gift of apostleship is the first and highest of all spiritual gifts ever given. This gift had maximum command authority. It is listed in 1 Corinthians 12:28 and Ephesians 4:11.
2. The apostles with super-numerary powers were twelve men in the early church who had the spiritual gift. Eleven of these were carried over from being the apostles to Israel in Matthew 10:2-4
2 Now the names of the twelve apostles are these: the first, Simon, who is called Peter, and Andrew his brother; and James the {son} of Zebedee, and John his brother;
3 Philip and Bartholomew; Thomas and Matthew the tax-gatherer; James the {son} of Alphaeus, and Thaddaeus;
4 Simon the Zealot, and Judas Iscariot, the one who betrayed Him. (NAS)
The only one not carried over on that roster was Judas Iscariot. Therefore, the Bible distinguishes between the apostles to Israel and the apostles to the Church. Paul replaced Judas Iscariot according to 1 Corinthians 15:7-10.
7 then He appeared to James, then to all the apostles;
8 and last of all, as it were to one untimely born, He appeared to me also.
9 For I am the least of the apostles, who am not fit to be called an apostle, because I persecuted the church of God.
10 But by the grace of God I am what I am, and His grace toward me did not prove vain; but I labored even more than all of them, yet not I, but the grace of God with me. (NAS)
3. The spiritual gift of apostleship carried the highest authority God has ever delegated in the Church Age. The apostle had authority over all local churches, in contrast to the pastor whose authority is limited to only one local church. In 1 Corinthians 12:28, the gift of apostleship is first in order of merit.
4. The spiritual gift of apostleship carried fantastic absolute authority. It was designed for two purposes.
a. The formation of the canon of Scripture, the New Testament. This absolute authority was restricted to the pre-canon period of the Church Age, from 30 to 96 A.D.
b. Leadership in the pre-canon period of the Church Age. This involved the establishment of local churches, the clarification of the mystery doctrine of the Church Age until the Canon was completed, the maintenance of a true systematic theology with dispensational emphasis, the training of pastors, and the establishment of local church policy. The gift also functioned in sending out colonial apostles (super missionaries).
5. Apostles were not appointed until after the ascension of Christ.
Ephesians 4:8, "And He has distributed spiritual gifts to men."
Ephesians 4:11, "And He gave some apostles."
1 Corinthians 12:11 "But one and the same Spirit works all these things, distributing to each one individually just as He wills."
1 Corinthians 12:28 "And God has appointed in the church, first apostles, . . . .
Until Christ's session there were no apostles.
6. The spiritual gift of apostleship was temporary and discontinued after the completion of the Canon. The removal of this temporary gift began with the post-canon period of the Church Age.
7. 1 Corinthians 12:11 says the Holy Spirit sovereignly bestowed the gift of apostleship: "But one and the same Spirit [God, the Holy Spirit, the Revealer of and Restorer to the plan ] energizes all these things, distributing to each one individually just as He wills."
1 Corinthians 12:28, "Furthermore, God has appointed first apostles."
That means first in order of authority and power.
D. The Roster of the Spiritual Gift of Apostleship.
1. Distinction must be made between the two categories of apostles.
a. Our Lord's appointment of apostles to Israel during the great power experiment of the Hypostatic Union, Matthew 10:2-4.
b. The twelve apostles appointed for the pre-canon period of the Church Age.
2. The roster of the first eleven men with the gift of apostleship is as follows. As with any group, some men were more active, and some were almost honorary apostles. These eleven were apostles to Israel for three years, and apostles to the Church until A.D. 96.
a. Simon-Peter, one of the three most active apostles.
b. Andrew his brother, who was almost an honorary apostle because he did so little and had a very short life.
c. James and John, John being one of the most active and who lived the longest. These two sons of Zebedee, James and John, came from a very wealthy family. John wrote 1,2 and 3 John, Revelation, and the Gospel of John.
d. Philip, who also had the gift of evangelism, which he used extensively.
e. Bartholomew, also called Nathaniel, an honorary type.
f. Doubting Thomas, also called Didymus meaning a twin. He did very little according to the Bible. But extra-Biblical sources indicate that he went to India and did a lot of work there.
g. Matthew, alias Levi, a writer.
h. Simon the Canaanite, an honorary; he did the least.
i. James, the son of Alphaeus, who disappears immediately. He is mistakenly called "James the Lesser." But just because we know so little about him doesn't mean he's inferior.
j. Thaddaeus, also called Jude, who wrote the Book of Jude. These eleven are mentioned first in Matthew 10:2-4 as apostles to Israel. They were the eleven disciples of our Lord who later became apostles.
3. The twelfth apostle was Paul. But before he was recognized as such, a farce occurred in
Acts 1. Peter suggested that they elect someone to take the place of Judas Iscariot.
a. The Bible teaches that Jesus Christ gave the first spiritual gifts to the Church on the Day of Pentecost; after that they are sovereignly bestowed by the Holy Spirit. You do not elect what is sovereignly given by God! You cannot elect greatness. The church voted for Matthias. But Matthias was not appointed by God to replace Judas,
Acts 1:15-26.
15 And at this time Peter stood up in the midst of the brethren (a gathering of about one hundred and twenty persons was there together), and said,
16 "Brethren, the Scripture had to be fulfilled, which the Holy Spirit foretold by the mouth of David concerning Judas, who became a guide to those who arrested Jesus.
17 "For he was counted among us, and received his portion in this ministry."
18 (Now this man acquired a field with the price of his wickedness; and falling headlong, he burst open in the middle and all his bowels gushed out.
19 And it became known to all who were living in Jerusalem; so that in their own language that field was called Hakeldama, that is, Field of Blood.)
20 "For it is written in the book of Psalms, `Let his homestead be made desolate, and let no man dwell in it'; and, `His office let another man take.'
21 "It is therefore necessary that of the men who have accompanied us all the time that the Lord Jesus went in and out among us--
22 beginning with the baptism of John, until the day that He was taken up from us-- one of these should become a witness with us of His resurrection."
23 And they put forward two men, Joseph called Barsabbas (who was also called Justus), and Matthias.
24 And they prayed, and said, "Thou, Lord, who knowest the hearts of all men, show which one of these two Thou hast chosen
25 to occupy this ministry and apostleship from which Judas turned aside to go to his own place."
26 And they drew lots for them, and the lot fell to Matthias; and he was numbered with the eleven apostles. (NAS)
The volition of mankind is never involved in spiritual gifts.
b. The twelfth man was to be the apostle Paul,
1 Corinthians 15:7-10, "Then He appeared to James, then to all the apostles, and last of all, as it were, to one untimely born [ a bastard ], He appeared to me also on the Damascus Road. For I am the least of the apostles who am not fit to be called an apostle, because I persecuted the church. But by the grace of God I am what I am, and His grace toward me did not prove empty [ vain ], but I labored even more than all the rest [ the eleven ]; yet not I, but the grace of God with me."
c. One of the requirements for this spiritual gift was that the apostle see the resurrected Christ. Paul saw the resurrected Christ on the Damascus Road according to
Acts 9:3-6
3 And it came about that as he journeyed, he was approaching Damascus, and suddenly a light from heaven flashed around him;
4 and he fell to the ground, and heard a voice saying to him, "Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting Me?"
5 And he said, "Who art Thou, Lord?" And He {said,} "I am Jesus whom you are persecuting,
6 but rise, and enter the city, and it shall be told you what you must do. " (NAS)
Acts 22:6-11
6 "And it came about that as I was on my way, approaching Damascus about noontime, a very bright light suddenly flashed from heaven all around me,
7 and I fell to the ground and heard a voice saying to me, `Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting Me?'
8 "And I answered, `Who art Thou, Lord?' And He said to me, `I am Jesus the Nazarene, whom you are persecuting.'
9 "And those who were with me beheld the light, to be sure, but did not understand the voice of the One who was speaking to me.
10 "And I said, `What shall I do, Lord?' And the Lord said to me, `Arise and go on into Damascus; and there you will be told of all that has been appointed for you to do.'
11 "But since I could not see because of the brightness of that light, I was led by the hand by those who were with me, and came into Damascus. (NAS)
Acts 26:13-18
13 at midday, O King, I saw on the way a light from heaven, brighter than the sun, shining all around me and those who were journeying with me.
14 "And when we had all fallen to the ground, I heard a voice saying to me in the Hebrew dialect, `Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting Me? It is hard for you to kick against the goads.'
15 "And I said, `Who art Thou, Lord?' And the Lord said, `I am Jesus whom you are persecuting.
16 `But arise, and stand on your feet; for this purpose I have appeared to you, to appoint you a minister and a witness not only to the things which you have seen, but also to the things in which I will appear to you;
17 delivering you from the {Jewish} people and from the Gentiles, to whom I am sending you,
18 to open their eyes so that they may turn from darkness to light and from the dominion of Satan to God, in order that they may receive forgiveness of sins and an inheritance among those who have been sanctified by faith in Me. ` (NAS)
Then He appeared to Paul again in Arabia [ Galatians 1:17 ]. Then He appeared to Paul in the temple,
Acts 9:26-30
26 And when he had come to Jerusalem, he was trying to associate with the disciples; and they were all afraid of him, not believing that he was a disciple.
27 But Barnabas took hold of him and brought him to the apostles and described to them how he had seen the Lord on the road, and that He had talked to him, and how at Damascus he had spoken out boldly in the name of Jesus.
28 And he was with them moving about freely in Jerusalem, speaking out boldly in the name of the Lord.
29 And he was talking and arguing with the Hellenistic {Jews;} but they were attempting to put him to death.
30 But when the brethren learned {of it}, they brought him down to Caesarea and sent him away to Tarsus. (NAS)
Acts 22:17-21
17 "And it came about when I returned to Jerusalem and was praying in the temple, that I fell into a trance,
18 and I saw Him saying to me, `Make haste, and get out of Jerusalem quickly, because they will not accept your testimony about Me.'
19 "And I said, `Lord, they themselves understand that in one synagogue after another I used to imprison and beat those who believed in Thee.
20 `And when the blood of Thy witness Stephen was being shed, I also was standing by approving, and watching out for the cloaks of those who were slaying him.'
21 "And He said to me, `Go! For I will send you far away to the Gentiles.'" (NAS)
Finally, He appeared to Paul in prison,
Acts 23:11
11 But on the night {immediately} following, the Lord stood at his side and said, "Take courage; for as you have solemnly witnessed to My cause at Jerusalem, so you must witness at Rome also." (NAS)
So Paul saw the resurrected Christ on four different occasions.
d. In genuine humility, Paul wrote (in Timothy) that he was the worst sinner who ever lived, and here that he was the least of all the apostles. As an unbeliever, Paul murdered many Christians. Yet he became the greatest Church Age Christian!
e. Paul became an apostle as a result of the sovereign decision of Jesus Christ according to Ephesians 4:11. Paul was given the spiritual gift by the Holy Spirit according to
1 Corinthians 12:11.
f. Add to this 1 Timothy 1:12-14. "I thank Christ Jesus our Lord who made me strong, because He considered me faithful, putting me into the ministry. And even though I was formerly a blasphemer and a persecutor and a violent aggressor, but I have received mercy because, being ignorant, I did it in unbelief. And the grace of our Lord was superabundant with faith and love in Christ Jesus."
E. Office of Apostleship: Pioneer Missions.
1. The pioneer missionaries could be classified as colonial or delegated apostles, or missionary/ruler types in the early church. They had tremendous powers, but they were delegated powers. In effect, they were colonial missionaries. They were called apostles, because APOSTOLOS is also used for a Greek who founded and governed a colony.
2. This is the true concept of sending out missionaries today. A missionary team should go to a country to form churches in that country. This requires evangelism, recognizing those men with the spiritual gifts of communication, and then training those men so that eventually indigenous local churches are established.
3. Colonial apostles had lesser spiritual gifts: pastor-teacher, prophecy, evangelism, and they had the authority to establish churches. They were, in effect, pioneer missionaries sent out under the authority of the spiritual gift of apostleship.
4. Colonial apostles included men like Barnabas, James the Lord's half brother, Apollos, Silas (Silvanus), Timothy, Titus, Epaphroditus, Andronicus and Junia. They are called apostles in the sense of being pioneer missionaries, but not in the sense of having the spiritual gift of apostleship. They had the delegated authority to establish churches, analogous to colonies which were founded in different parts of the Roman world, some as far as India and China.
a. Barnabas was an apostle in this sense, as documented in
Acts 14:14
14 But when the apostles, Barnabas and Paul, heard of it, they tore their robes and rushed out into the crowd, crying out (NAS)
Galatians 2:9
9 and recognizing the grace that had been given to me, James and Cephas and John, who were reputed to be pillars, gave to me and Barnabas the right hand of fellowship, that we {might go} to the Gentiles, and they to the circumcised. (NAS)
He had the authority to go out and form churches, recognize those men with the spiritual gift of pastor-teacher, train them, appoint them to certain churches, and then leave.
b. James, our Lord's half-brother, had this same delegated authority of an apostle.
1 Corinthians 15:7
7 then He appeared to James, then to all the apostles; (NAS)
Galatians 1:19.
19 But I did not see any other of the apostles except James, the Lord's brother. (NAS)
c. Apollos is called an apostle in 1 Corinthians 4:6
6 Now these things, brethren, I have figuratively applied to myself and Apollos for your sakes, that in us you might learn not to exceed what is written, in order that no one of you might become arrogant in behalf of one against the other. (NAS)
1 Corinthians 4:9
9 For, I think, God has exhibited us apostles last of all, as men condemned to death; because we have become a spectacle to the world, both to angels and to men. (NAS)
He was Paul's delegate to Corinth.
d. Titus had the power to form churches in Crete.
2 Corinthians 8:23
23 As for Titus, {he is} my partner and fellow worker among you; as for our brethren, {they are} messengers of the churches, a glory to Christ. (NAS)
He had the authority but not the gift.
e. Epaphroditus, mentioned in Philippians 2:25
25 But I thought it necessary to send to you Epaphroditus, my brother and fellow worker and fellow soldier, who is also your messenger and minister to my need; (NAS)
had this pioneer missionary gift.
f. Andronicus and Junia, Romans 16:7.
7 Greet Andronicus and Junias, my kinsmen, and my fellow prisoners, who are outstanding among the apostles, who also were in Christ before me. (NAS)
g. Silvanus and Timothy,
1 Thessalonians 1:1
1 Paul and Silvanus and Timothy to the church of the Thessalonians in God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ: Grace to you and peace. (NAS)
1 Thessalonians 2:6
6 nor did we seek glory from men, either from you or from others, even though as apostles of Christ we might have asserted our authority. (NAS)
5. These men did not have the spiritual gift of apostleship, but they did have delegated authority to fulfill the indigenous missionary principle through the establishment of local churches in different parts of the Roman world.
6. Those with the office were the colonial apostles who had lesser spiritual gifts, such as pastor-teacher, prophet, evangelist; they did not possess the gift of apostleship. They had the delegated authority to function under the indigenous principle in training pastors and establishing local churches, both outside and inside the boundaries of the Roman Empire.
F. Additional Spiritual Gifts of Apostles.
1. To establish authority, the apostle had additional spiritual gifts provided in order to identify him as having the proper authority.
2. The apostles were identified by the use of several temporary spiritual gifts, so that there was no question as to who had this gift. They had certain temporary gifts which were used as their identification card to establish that they had the gift of apostleship.
3. The temporary gifts included miracles, tongues, and healing:
Acts 5:15
15 to such an extent that they even carried the sick out into the streets, and laid them on cots and pallets, so that when Peter came by, at least his shadow might fall on any one of them. (NAS)
Acts 16:16-18
16 And it happened that as we were going to the place of prayer, a certain slave-girl having a spirit of divination met us, who was bringing her masters much profit by fortunetelling.
17 Following after Paul and us, she kept crying out, saying, "These men are bond-servants of the Most High God, who are proclaiming to you the way of salvation."
18 And she continued doing this for many days. But Paul was greatly annoyed, and turned and said to the spirit, "I command you in the name of Jesus Christ to come out of her!" And it came out at that very moment. (NAS)
Acts 28:8-9
8 And it came about that the father of Publius was lying {in bed} afflicted with {recurrent} fever and dysentery; and Paul went in {to see} him and after he had prayed, he laid his hands on him and healed him.
9 And after this had happened, the rest of the people on the island who had diseases were coming to him and getting cured. (NAS)
Tongues was the first gift withdrawn, for once Israel was removed from her land under the 5th Cycle of Discipline in 70 A.D., no one again legitimately spoke in tongues.
4. Once the authority of the apostle was established, and once he was so identified throughout the Roman Empire, these temporary gifts were no longer necessary and were removed. For example, Paul initially had the gift of healing,
Acts 19:11-12
11 And God was performing extraordinary miracles by the hands of Paul,
12 so that handkerchiefs or aprons were even carried from his body to the sick, and the diseases left them and the evil spirits went out. (NAS)
But he no longer had it at the time when several of his closest friends were ill or dying, for by this time his identity and authority as an apostle had been established. He could not heal Epaphroditus in Rome in
Philippians 2:27
27 For indeed he was sick to the point of death, but God had mercy on him, and not on him only but also on me, lest I should have sorrow upon sorrow. (NAS)
He had to leave Trophemus behind because he could not heal him in
2 Timothy 4:20.
20 Erastus remained at Corinth, but Trophimus I left sick at Miletus. (NAS)
G. Summary.
1. Apostleship is a unique spiritual gift sovereignly delegated by our Lord Jesus Christ, according to 1 Cor 12:27-28, Eph 4:11, and Col 1:1.
2. Today, all spiritual gifts are permanent spiritual gifts and given at the point of salvation by God the Holy Spirit.
3. In the pre-canon period of the Church Age, certain temporary spiritual gifts were given to carry on with the Church until the canon of the New Testament had been completed and circulated.
4. Certain gifts such as apostleship, prophecy, miracles, healing, tongues, the interpretation of tongues, the gifts of knowledge and wisdom, the gift of discerning spirits and the temporary gift of faith are all out of function now. None of them have been operational since 96 A.D.
5. Once the canon of the New Testament was completed and circulated, all temporary spiritual gifts were withdrawn.
6. The apostles to the Church were not appointed until after the ascension of Christ according to Eph 4:8 cf. 4:11.
7. Therefore, the apostles to the Church are not to be confused with the apostles to Israel, Matt 10:2-4.
8. The spiritual gift of apostleship exercised authority over numerous local churches until the completion of the New Testament.
9. In the post-canon period of the Church Age, all local churches are autonomous under the authority of a pastor-teacher.
10. John was the last of the apostles, and functioned as a minister at Ephesus. John lived into the reign of the Antonine Caesars.
11. Any claim of apostleship today is heresy and blasphemy.
12. In order to execute their ministry, the spiritual gift of apostleship was accompanied by other temporary spiritual gifts.
13. The apostle as a human author of the New Testament prophesied details of the eschatological dispensations which follow the Church Age, both the Tribulation and the Millennium.
14. The need for the gift of Apostle ceased in 96 A.D. when the Apostle John finished the Book of Revelation.
II. Prophet
A. The gift of prophecy was not a national leader like that of the Old Testament prophets. This gift was second in order of merit, and is so listed in 1 Cor 12:28. It is also mentioned in Rom 12:6; 1 Cor 12:10, and 14:1-40 where it is presented in contrast to the gift of tongues.
1. Old Testament prophets were national leaders, especially in times of crisis. In times of prosperity, he was the final authority on Bible doctrine. However, this gift is not related to national leadership. Many of the Old Testament prophets were great national leaders, e.g., Elijah. Isaiah dictated the correct foreign policy that saved Israel. But those with the gift of prophecy in the Church Age were not national leaders; they only functioned within the realm of the Church.
2. The gift of prophecy included a message of divine guidance or a warning of judgment, or a prediction about the immediate future. In Acts 11, Agabus the prophet predicted the famine and depression to come. In Acts 21:10-11, he warned Paul not to go back to Jerusalem.
3. Prophets had a limited teaching ministry related to contemporary events; that's why they are called "prophets and teachers" in Acts 13:1.
4. Males with the gift of prophecy recorded in Scripture.
(1) Agabus, Acts 11:27-28, 21:10-11.
(2) Others included Barnabas, Simeon, Lucius, Manaen, and even Paul, according to Acts 13:1. Judas and Silas had the gift, Acts 13:32.
5. Acts 21:9 presents a problem, because the four daughters of Philip the evangelist are said to "be prophesying" in the present active participle. However, they did not have a spiritual gift. So we must distinguish between people permitted by God to prophesy, and those who had the spiritual gift of prophecy. No record of their prophecies is ever given, and obviously they did not have the spiritual gift of prophecy.
6. In exercising the temporary spiritual gift of prophecy, the prophet must receive his message from God, or he must declare God's will to someone in terms of prophecy, i.e., in terms of future events. The prophecy must be doctrinally accurate.
7. Because of the tremendous amount of eschatology in the New Testament epistles, it is quite obvious that the writers who were apostles also had the gift of prophecy.
8. The gift of prophecy warned about judgment of sin, indicated the will of God regarding current events, and predicted future events during the apostolic age. But the gift did not extend into the post-canon period because of the doctrine of historical trends. Every function of the gift of prophecy during the pre-canon period is fulfilled by the doctrine of historical trends during the post-canon period. By metabolizing doctrine, you become your own prophet.
9. With the completion of the canon of Scripture in A.D. 96 and its gradual circulation, temporary gifts of communication ceased to exist.
10. Everything God wants man to know about the future is now written in the completed Canon of Scripture.
B. This gift provided the special ability to predict (fortell) [ tagna/ ] the future and then courageously preach (forth-tell) that prediction to the people.
C. Men are forthtelling today, and are being called prophets, when they are in reality only preaching and teaching information that has been provided by God in His Word.
III. Word of Knowledge
A. The gift of knowledge is found in 1 Cor 12:8, 13:8.
B With this gift, you had instant cognition of mystery doctrine.
C. This was a spiritual gift whereby you knew a Church Age doctrine without studying it, for there was as yet no New Testament canon in writing to study.
D. This knowledge was provided directly by God the Holy Spirit who inserted previously unknown doctrinal information into a person's right lobe as epignosis.
E. In other words, the gift of knowledge functioned totally apart from the function of operation Z.
F. Ceased in 96 A.D. when the Apostle John finished the Book of Revelation.
IV. Word of Wisdom
A. The gift of wisdom is found in 1 Cor 12:8.
B. This gift accompanied the gift of knowledge, as the ability to explain and apply the mystery doctrine taught by the gift of knowledge.
C. So some taught the mystery doctrine; others taught the application of that doctrine.
D. Ceased in 96 A.D. when the Apostle John finished the Book of Revelation.
E. Today, wisdom comes with spiritual adulthood only.
F. No believer before reaching spiritual self-esteem has wisdom.
V. Discerning of Spirits
A. The gift of discerning spirits is found in 1 Cor 12:10.
B. This was the spiritual gift for the detection of false doctrine.
C. The pre-canon gift that provided the ability to know whether a person who professed to be a spokesperson for God was a true spokesperson or a false spokesperson.
D. With the completion of the canon of Scripture, this gift was no longer necessary, since the New Testament contains true doctrine and thereby exposes false doctrine.
E. Ceased in 96 A.D. when the Apostle John finished the Book of Revelation.
VI. Faith
A.. The gift of faith is found in 1 Cor 12:9. This must be distinguished from the faith-rest drill.
1. This was a special spiritual gift before the New Testament was completed, whereby a believer demonstrated faith in a group which was being persecuted or was under some special pressure. Everyone would be moaning and groaning and complaining about some circumstance, and this believer would exercise great faith in deliverance or in confidence in God, and encourage that group to depend upon the Lord.
2. This person would exercise his gift of faith on behalf of the group, either to comfort them with promises and doctrine, or to announce that a deliverance was about to come. If a group of believers were about to go to the lions, and one of them stood up with the gift of faith and said, "I'm trusting the Lord that we'll all be delivered," they would all be delivered and none of them would go to the lions.
3. The New Testament didn't exist, so there were no promises to claim and no doctrine to apply.
4. This gift was provided in lieu of having New Testament promises and doctrines, so that the faith-rest drill could function.
B. Ceased in 96 A.D. when the Apostle John finished the Book of Revelation.
VII. Miracles
A. The gift of miracles is found in 1 Cor 12:28; 2 Cor 12:12.
1. This temporary spiritual gift was designed to authenticate and certify communication gifts during the apostolic age. This gift was used by an apostle, a prophet, a pastor-teacher, or an evangelist as a identification card to certify that he had that communication gift. The person who had a communication gift could perform a miracle at will. This was the sign that he was from God.
2. Today, no one has the gift of miracles, since the completion of the canon of Scripture. The greatest miracle in all of history is the power of Bible doctrine in the life of the positive believer who makes doctrine his #1 priority.
3. People tended to lean on miracles during the apostolic age, resulting in terrible apostasy. Whenever someone had a problem, instead of using and applying Bible doctrine, they just waited around for a miracle. So that miracles became the basis for leading many into apostasy, even though it was legitimate at that time.
4. While no believer today has the gift of miracles, God still performs miracles if He chooses to do so. But they are not performed by any human through a spiritual gift.
5. Of course, Satan has a clever system for duplicating miracles. But there is no such thing as an intermediary between you and God for the performance of miracles. There is no ceremony; there is no system of prayer for miracles. Believers who practice this today insult God, regarding Him as a genie.
6. The easiest thing God can do for a human being is to perform a miracle. This is because it does not require any cooperation or positive volition from a person; it only requires a decision from the sovereignty of God and the use of His omnipotence.
7. The greatest demonstration of God's power toward mankind today is the fulfillment of His protocol plan through the believer's consistent residence inside the divine dynasphere, under the enabling power of the Spirit, and momentum from metabolized doctrine, utilizing his very own portfolio of invisible assets.
8. God never designed miracles to alleviate suffering. Otherwise, our Lord would have been remiss in not healing everyone when He was on earth. Miracles were designed to focus attention on the power of God and the Word of God, to focus attention on the man (or Messiah) with the message. The fact that miracles often alleviate suffering is incidental to the point; it is an after-the-fact result. The greatest thing in life is not a miracle, but Bible doctrine resident in your soul.
9. Miracles are sovereign and personal, never in the hands of a human being during the post-canon period of the Church Age.
10. Paul performed miracles, indicating that he had the gift of apostleship; therefore he was given a healing. Whenever our Lord performed a miracle, it was always in relationship to His message. The message of doctrine is infinitely more important than any miracle that has ever occurred.
11. All the hocus-pocus in the false function of miracles today is designed to call attention to man. It's an ego trip. It is an arrogant person trying to control and influence a lot of dumb sheep. Miracles are not the issue today. The very fact that people want, ask, and pray for miracles means they do not begin to understand the true greatness of God's power, the greatness of His plan and the portfolio of invisible assets. No one in the Church Age has the power to heal you via a miracle.
12. The definition of a miracle is the supernatural ability to change the very nature of something. i.e.: changing water to wine.
B. Ceased in 96 A.D. when the Apostle John finished the Book of Revelation.
C. Today confirmation of the messenger and the message is provided by the completed Word of God.
VIII. Healings
A. The gift of healing is mentioned in 1 Cor 12:9, 28, 30.
1. Just as miracles was designed to authenticate the person, so healing was designed to focus attention on the message of apostles, prophets, pastors, and evangelists before the New Testament was completed and circulated.
2. Miracles authenticated the person; healing certified the message. So they were different, though they both had the same connotation in that they dealt with supernatural phenomena. A man with the gift of miracles could perform a miracle at will, anytime he chose to do so, and he could heal as well. In fact, people could just touch Paul and they were instantly healed.
3. Healing as a spiritual gift does not exist today, for it ceased with the completion of the Canon. Any healing today must come directly from God, and not through any delegated human authority or intermediary. Normally, healing is performed through medicine or even a tranquil mental attitude so that the body can heal itself.
4. Healing is not a question of God's power. Healing is not even a matter of someone's faith. It is the wisdom of God's sovereign will in individual situations. God heals today only in special cases in which He has a special purpose, such as extending your life so that you can learn doctrine. But no person has the right to take any credit, should such healing occur. The credit lies with the wisdom and sovereignty of God.
5. Paul had the gift of healing. It was used as a indentification card to establish his apostleship, since he murdered more Christians in the first century than anyone else before the great persecutions began. Acts 19:11-12 tells of the spectacular nature of his healing gift, for a person only had to touch Paul to be healed instantly.
6. But once Paul's apostleship and message was established and generally accepted, God withdrew the gift of healing from him since it was no longer needed. We know this because Paul could not heal two of his closest friends. He solicited prayer on their behalf, but he could not heal them. One was Epaphroditus in Philippians 2:27, the other was Trophemus in 2 Timothy 4:20; Paul had to leave Trophemus behind because he could not heal him.
7. There is true healing that occurs when a demon-possessed person experiences the demon leaving his body; such a person is then "cured." This method is used by Satan to establish false teachers.
B. Ceased in 96 A.D. when the Apostle John finished the Book of Revelation.
IX. Tongues
a. The supernatural ability to preach the gospel in a foreign language that the preacher had never learned.
b. Tongues were for a sign of the impending fifth cycle of discipline to the nation of Israel.
c.. The need for tongues ceased in 70 A.D. when Israel was driven out of the land under the fifth cycle of discipline.
X. Interpretation of Tongues
a. The supernatural ability to interpret a tongues message for a group who heard a message delivered in tongues.
b. The supernatural ability to answer a crowd who asks, "What did he say?" after they had just heard a message in a foreign language.
c. Ceased in 70 A.D. when Israel was driven out of the land under the fifth cycle of discipline.