Originally posted by SeekingAfterHim:
Okay... I'll give you my scriptures to back my claims.
</font><blockquote>quote:</font><hr />Acts 2:39 - For the promise is unto you, and to your children, and to all that are afar off, even as many as the Lord our God shall call.
Peter was saying this was for EVERYONE</font>[/QUOTE]No argument. The promise--SALVATION--is for everyone now, not just the Jews. The promise refers to salvation. It refers back to verse 38--the remission of sins. The promise of having one's sins forgiven through salvation.
Joel 2:28-32
28 And it shall come to pass afterward, that I will pour out my spirit upon all flesh; and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, your old men shall dream dreams, your young men shall see visions: 29 And also upon the servants and upon the handmaids in those days will I pour out my spirit. 30 And I will shew wonders in the heavens and in the earth, blood, and fire, and pillars of smoke. 31 The sun shall be turned into darkness, and the moon into blood, before the great and the terrible day of the LORD come. 32 And it shall come to pass, that whosoever shall call on the name of the LORD shall be delivered: for in mount Zion and in Jerusalem shall be deliverance, as the LORD hath said, and in the remnant whom the LORD shall call.
Now this Scripture here, is a 3 fold prophesy, It was a promise to the people of Isreal on the day of Pentecost. To the Apostles of Christ in the upper room. For today, during the age of grace, and for the Last days and the times spoken of in the book of Revelation. I ask you, DHK, Is God an Indian Giver??? Would he say. "I will pour out my Spirit on ALL Flesh", and then only Distribute the Holy Spirit gifts to only 12 people? It makes no sense. You see, the gifts were NOT only given to the 12 apostles, But the Apostles LAID HANDS on others and THEY RECIEVED the HOLY SPIRIT and THOSE PEOPLE LAID HANDS ON OTHERS, and so on and so forth. It is recorded in history of the gifts being passed on, during the early Church. Never once was it recorded of the gifts ever ceasing, Not in cannonized Scripture. Just in Uninspired writings by mere men. So people just decided that because they had an english Bible that they didn't need the Gifts any longer, It didn't mean that they were correct in thier assumptions. Not only that, why would God only give his gifts to select group of people and no one else? Explain that Logic?
-SeekingAfterHim
You are the one with the assumptions here. There are not three time periods in the Scripture referred to, but only two. There was the Day of Pentecost, and there will be signs and wonders during the end times--The Tribulation Period to be specific.
God did pour his spirit out on the Day of Pentecost in verses 28 and 29.
But the sun didn't turn to darkness, and the moon didn't turn to blood. Those events will take place when God pours out his wrath upon this world in the Tribulation Period. That Scripture says nothing about spiritual gifts continuing past the days of the Apostles.
God never said: "I will pour out my Spirit on all flesh
of all time. He did not say that. He was speaking of one particular time period.
You said: Never once is it ever recorded of the gifts ever ceasing."
1 Corinthians 13:8 Charity never faileth: but whether there be prophecies, they shall fail; whether there be tongues,
they shall cease; whether there be knowledge, it shall vanish away.
A proper exegesis of Scripture shows us that these gifts ceased when the canon of Scripture was complete--when that which is perfect (the Word of God) was come--then that which was in part (the spiritual gifts) were done away--ceased.
BTW, it has nothing to do with the English language. It all happened when the Greek canon of our Scripture was completed, near the end of the first century. To strengthen that position is history itself. History bears witness to the fact that tongues had already ceased by the end of the first century.
The spiritual gifts were given for definite reasons, none of which are applicable today. That is why they were given to a "select group of people," as you put it. Consider:
1. They were given as a sign to the unbelieving Jews--the sign to authenticate the message of the gospel that it was from God. It was fulfillment of prophecy (1Cor.14:21,22).
2. They were given to authenticate the Apostles themselves. The signs and wonders (sign gifts) that the Apostles performed were one of the identifying marks of an Apostle.
3. They were given because the New Testament was not yet complete. It was God's way of giving the early first century church the revelation that they needed before they had the entire Word of God. Thus the gifts of tongues, prophecy, and revelatory knowledge. We have the entire Word of God, thus these gifts have no function in todays church.
On all three counts:
There are no unbelieving Jews that need a sign,
There are no Apostles that need authenticating,
The New Testament is completed,
And thus for all these reasons--the gifts have ceased. They have fulfilled their function.
DHK