Originally posted by D28guy:
If you believe that God still heals, through prayer and sometimes through the laying on of hands, then why do you turn around and say that the sign gift spoken of in Mark 16..."they will lay hands on the sick, and the sick will recover"...is not for today?
You are speaking out of both sides of your mouth.
Hardly!
Are you unable to discern between a simple answer to prayer, and the supernatural gifts of the Spirit that were given in the first century. There is a big difference, and the two cannot be equated as you seem to be doing.
Well, the sign gift of healing spoken of in Mark is that people will miraculously recover from illness by Gods touch alone.
And you are now saying that you
DO believe that
God miraculously heals people through his touch alone today.
Yet you are saying that God is
no longer healing people by His touch alone anymore as He did in the 1st century?
Why are you so confused?
First, the sign gift in Mark (that you referred to) is just that--a sign gift. Those gifts have ceased. We don't see them anymore--anywhere. But we did read of them in the Book of Acts, particulary in Acts 5:15,16. But those things don't happen anymore, though many Charismatics try to. Peter Popoff tries to emulate Peter (Acts 5:15)--"if you just send your gift of "X" dollars I will send you this holy water obtained from a holy site in Russia, and it will cure your diseases." Typical isn't it?? A true phoney!
Am I now saying that God heals? I never said that God doesn't heal. I said that the gift of healing has ceased. There are no faith-healers today, as there were in Biblical times. There is no spiritual gift of healing today as there was in the first century. You don't see Acts 5:16 being replicated in this day and age, because the gift of healing has ceased, because tongues and the other sign gifts have ceased.
So...if the person doing this is a Baptist its a legitimate healing...but if someone is a charismatic, it isnt?
Don't put words in my mouth. I never said that.
And what got this thread going, if I recall correctly, is the gift (that is stell given today) of tongues. And the passage I have been referring to is in Mark 16, where the scripture tells us that as long as there are "those who believe", miraculous activity like tongues, healing, casting out of demons, and supernatural protection will "follow" those who "believe".
Did you not just quote "healing" in that passage? It is one of those miraculous sign gifts, that along with tongues has ceased. If I can show you that the gift of healing has ceased you will be compelled to believe that the other sign gifts have ceased as well (or at least should be).
And all of that activity has been going on uninterrupted for 2000 years now...as Christ said it would.
I know you want me to read your books. But I already have studied history. There is a void of 1900 years where the gift of tongues has been silent. In fact these sign gifts have not been operational since the first century and still are not today!
Multitudes are not healed. Missionaries still go to language school (even Charismatics), because the Biblical gift of tongues has ceased. The gift of miracles has ceased (such as Jesus performing miracles that can't be performed today--walking on water, calming the seas, raising the dead, etc.
Certainly God can and does perform miracles as he sees fits. But there is no one that has a "gift of miracles." Philip did in Acts 8. But these sign gifts ended at the end of the first century or even before then.
There are many kinds of healing, brother. As an example, when someone is called home from an illness, that is the ultimate divine healing, is it not?
No, of course not. That is called death, and people on earth grieve because their loved one was not healed. You really try and twist things around.
As someone once said:
"God heals all our diseases except the last one."
It is obvious you don't want to admit that the gift of healing has ceased. You are walking circles around the evidence trying your best not to admit it.
"That is why there is such a plethora of "Faith Healers" out there that claim "All that come to them can be healed." They are a bunch of frauds."
Some...a small minority...have been proven to be frauds. Not all.
Maybe the great majority--In fact maybe ALL! Why?
Because the gift has ceased. Obviously if the gift of healing has ceasd those who pretend that they have it are frauds.
It certainly is. If it werent sometimes neded, God would not still sometimes grant it. The scriptures give us accurate testimony of what happened 2000 years ago. But not all people believe the scriptures are true, and are an accurate revelation. So...God sometimes confirms the word today with the accompanying signs.
So, not all people believe the Scriptures are true! So what! That is their problem. It is called unbelief. Here is what Jesus said about it:
Matthew 12:39 But he answered and said unto them, An evil and adulterous generation
seeketh after a sign; and there shall
no sign be given to it, but the sign of the prophet Jonas:
Luke 16:30-31 And he said, Nay, father Abraham: but if one went unto them from the dead, they will repent.
31 And he said unto him,
If they hear not Moses and the prophets, neither will they be persuaded, though one rose from the dead.
Christ has left us with the Word of God. He taught clearly that miracles do not save. God's Word needs no confirmation today. We live in an evil and adulterous generation that seeks after signs. They don't need signs; they need the gospel, as Christ said--the sign of Jonas. He was referring to the gospel message.
"Jesus did not heal because of their unbelief. That is right. Because of their unbelief in the fact that he was the Messiah. Read John 20:31. That gives you the reason why He did miracles--that you might believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God."
And thats why He sometimes grants that gift today.
I take it you didn't read John 20:31 as I suggested. Let me quote it for you this time:
John 20:31
But these are written, that ye might believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God; and that believing ye might have life through his name.
We don't need miracles. We have the Word of God. John said: "These are written that you might believe." He didn't say that Christ or anyone else would have to do more miracles for people to believe. We have the Word of God, and that is sufficient.
Me? I have prayed for people and seen them recover. I have layed hands on people and seen them recover. I have asked God myself for healing for myself and I recovered. I also go to doctors, take prescriptions if they are needed, etc.
If you truly had the gift of healing, or even knew someone who did, you would never have to go to a doctor. Your own testimony verifies that the gift of healing has ceased. Healing has not: "the supernatural sign gift of healing" has ceased.
"That was the purpose of Jesus--to demonstrate his deity. Their unbelief was directly related to his deity not to their sicknesses. Read the context before you try and use that verse."
I'm not sure which verse you are speaking of there.
Matthew 13:58 And he did not many mighty works there because of their unbelief.
The unbelief refers to an unbelief in Christ as the Messiah. This is a common text used by Charismatics to teach that unbelief keeps one from being healed--a doctrine not taught in the Bible. The unbelief here has nothing to do with being healed of anything. It is unbelief in Christ as Messiah.
DHK