tamborine lady said:
:type:
Mman said:
They cannot heal the deaf, raise the dead, cause the blind to see,....
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You are absolutely correct Mman, they cannot heal. But the Holy Spirit working thru them can!
As for the apostles, I beg to differ.
Matthew 28-19 Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost:
20 Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you:
The 12 did their job. They passed what they had on learned and did on to others, (like Elijah passed his mantle to Elisha) in the old testament.
That same process has been going on for centuries. So...... there are Apostles today, and they can do the same things the origional 12 did.
When they lay hands on you you can be given power from on high, and you can still receive the same power Paul was talking about in:
1 Cor 14-2 For he that speaketh in an unknown tongue speaketh not unto men, but unto God: for no man understandeth him; howbeit in the spirit he speaketh mysteries.
If no man understands him then he is not speaking a known language, he is speaking mysteries TO GOD! But he is still speaking a language that no one but God undserstands, so it does not have to be a "known" language spoken somewhere in the world.
Working for Jesus,
Tam
First of all, there are no apostles today. One qualification for an apostle that we read about in the New Testament was to be an eye witness of the risen Jesus.
First of all, notice Acts 1:20 "For it is written in the Book of Psalms,
"'May his camp become desolate,
and let there be no one to dwell in it';
and
"
'Let another take his office.'
When Judas died, another took his office. He lost his apostleship. When the other apostles died, no one took their place.
So what were the qualifications to replace Judas? Notice the end of verse 22, "one of these must become a witness with us of His resurrection."
The last person to see the resurrected Jesus was Paul. I Cor 15:7-9 "Then he appeared to James, then to all the apostles.
Last of all, as to one untimely born, he appeared also to me. For I am the least of the apostles, unworthy to be called an apostle, because I persecuted the church of God."
Notice, not "Next of all" but "Last of all". Paul was an apostle with an untimely birth. Why did he say that? He must have been born later than the other apostles. He was not a eyewitness to the resurrected Jesus upon the earth, but received his eyewitness account on the road to Damascus, some time later. He became an apostle, born out of due season, the last to be an eye-witness to the resurrected Jesus.
Verse 20 of Matt 18 does not require an apostle. We have many cases where the people went everywhere preaching the word (Acts 8:4). That is what Philip did in Acts 8. Philip had the gifts of miracles, but he could not pass that gift along. It took real apostles to come and lay their hands on the people for them to receive the Holy Spirit (Acts 8:18).
Sure, the Holy Spirit has the power to do miracles as demonstrated in the New Testament, however, that is no longer needed. God's word is sufficient. We already have everything that pertains to life and godliness.
The languages you speak of are not scriptural. In context of I Cor 14, notice: "There are doubtless many different languages in the world, and none is without meaning, but if I do not know the meaning of the language, I will be a foreigner to the speaker and the speaker a foreigner to me."
These were languages of the world. If nobody was there to understand, then 5 words spoken with understanding are better than 10,000 words in a foreign language that nobody understands (vs 19).
Here is my proof. You (nor any body you call an apostle today) cannot go to a foreign country and preach the gospel to them in a language that you have not learned. You (through the Holy Spirit) cannot heal their deaf, nor make their blind to see, nor raise their dead, nor do any other undeniable miracle. That is the truth, whether you will admit that to yourself or not.
Here is the irony in those who think they can speak in tongues. Never once have I met or talked with any of them who has been able to use this "gift" to spread the gospel to those in foreign countries or those who only speak foreign languages. None! Nada! Ziltch! Zero!
Tongues were a sign for unbelievers (I Cor 14:22). If you can preach to unbelievers in their own language, a language in which you have not learned, then that would be a sign. To utter gibberish (as sincere as you may be) in the presence of other "believers" is useless and worth less that 5 words others can understand.
