Are Miraculous Gifts for today? Signs, wonders, and tongues.

I am not trying to change anyone's belief or view's with this post but my intent for all who read this is that they would be challenged and encouraged to seek, study, and research the Bible diligently and fervently. Why? Because we cannot afford to be wrong.

The Apostle Paul says in 1 Corinthians 12-" Now concerning spiritual gifts, I would not have you ignorant. "

Certainly, Spiritual gifts existed in the early church, and their is no historical, exegetical, or logical reason for supposing that they were not intended to exists so long as the church would endure on the earth. Although signs, wonders, miracles, and tongues may not be normative, they do exists.

Historical Reason(Church History): The Church for 1800 years believed in all the manifestations of the spiritual gifts. The Catholic and Orthodox Church believed in them for 1500 years. That is everyone from the Apostles, to the Apostles disciples, to the early church fathers, and to the reformers believed in them. It was B.B War-field who was a theologian from Princeton in his book "Counterfeit Miracles" who furnished most of the information and material later used by almost all those who are against the concept of spiritual gifts in the Christian church. He wrote this book in response to a movement which people were abusing the usage of spiritual Gifts. From this point and forward in Church History, the gifts of the Holy Spirit was seldom mentioned and when mentioned, it was negative.

Exegetical and Logical Reason: One of the Chief Objections to the gifts of the Holy Spirit being operative in the Christian church was and is still based on 1 Corinthians 13. They would use the text from 1 Corinthians 13:10 to support their position.
1 Corinthians 13:10-"But when that which is perfect is come, then that which is in part shall be done away." The word perfect their means in the Greek complete. They say this verse refers not to the termination of the gifts at the second coming of Christ( which is the classical Interpretation) but instead, they say that the perfect means the completion of the New Testament Canon or Apostloic age. Consequently, they conclude that it is unnecessary for the gifts of the spirit to continue. This is a very weak assumption and speculation not supported by the language or the context of Chapter 13. Even though this is foreign to the greek in the context, B.B Warfeild popularized it and succeeded in sharing it.
Generally, scholarship has held " that which is perfect is come" to mean the second coming of Christ. The context of 1 Corinthians 13 is clarified in Verse 12. In 1 Corinthians 13:12, the Apostle Paul says, "For now we see in a mirror dimly, but then face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I have been fully known."
Verse 12 teaches that gifts will cease their full manifestation when we see " face to face" and when "we know even as also we are known." Contextually and grammatically  you can't separate this from the second coming of Christ. And the Parellel passage to 1 Corinthians 13:12 is 1 John 3:2-"Beloved, we are God’s children now, and what we will be has not yet appeared; but we know that when he appears we shall be like him, because we shall see him as he is."

Now of Course there have been and still are abuses of spiritual gifts by some believers, even as there is neglect of these gifts by other believers.

References:
Martin, Walter. Essential Christianity: A Handbook of Basic Christian Doctrines. Ventura, CA: Regal, 1980. Print.

What is the Gospel?

1 Corinthians 15:3-5-"³ For I delivered to you as of first importance what I also received: that Christ died for our sins in accordance with the Scriptures, ⁴ that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day in accordance with the Scriptures, ⁵ and that he appeared to Cephas, then to the twelve."

The Greek word for gospel is evangelion and this word literally mean "good news." Their is no other truth that you can hear that will give you more hope and joy than knowing Jesus has conquered death, hell, grave, and judgement and that we sinners who was once fully deserved God's just wrath and who don't even deserve to be in God's presence can now be with Jesus forever. So then, why don't many people see this timeless glorious truth as being "good news?" One reason for this can be found in the bible and it is because Satan has blinded the minds of unbelievers from seeing this truth. The bible says in 2 Corinthians 4:4- "In their case the god of this world has blinded the minds of the unbelievers, to keep them from seeing the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God." Another reason the gospel is not good news to many is they refuse to believe the bad news of sin. The world has done everything in its power to just explain away sin and make light of it. For instance, adultery is now called just having an "affair." But the serious nature of every sin is why Jesus had to come and die. See, it was "Our" sins that nailed our Savior to that Cross and also laid him in that tomb.  But now he is risen from the grave and the Resurrection of Jesus is the receipt, evidence,stamp,  proof that our sins are paid for! This is the best news.

We are Saved by the Gospel-Rom 1:16

"For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek."

Paul defines exactly for us what the Gospel is...

The text in 1 Corinthians 15:3-5 gives us the most accurate explanations of what the gospel is. The very basis of the gospel is the death, burial, and the resurrection of Jesus which is all according to the Scriptures. In other words, Jesus death, burial, and Resurrection wasn't  an accident , but it was all planned by God in eternity past and it was all recorded down in his Holy Word years before the events ever even took place.

Godliness and Fearing God

Psalm 128:1-"Blessed is every one that fears the LORD; that walks in his ways."

In this text of Scripture, the Hebrew word for fear is "yare" and it  gives the idea of both a dread and also an idea of awe and reverence. In other words,mixing the two ideas, this text of scripture is saying, blessed is everyone who takes God seriously opposed to just taking him casually. If Jesus is who he said he was-God in human flesh- and if he did what he claimed to do- die for my sins on the Cross when I deserved to die and go to hell  because of my sins and if Jesus really did raise from the dead on the third day to give me eternal life, how can I ever take him casually?

1 Timothy 4:8-"For bodily exercise profiteth little: but godliness is profitable unto all things, having promise of the life that now is, and of that which is to come."

To define what is godliness let me first define what is ungodliness. Ungodliness is not necessarily committing gross sins such as murdering but it is simply living a life of ignoring God and living as though he doesn't even exists. On the contrary, godliness is to take God seriously and to live a life that is Christ-centered and to live a life that depends , honors, acknowledges God in every facet and area of your life. 

The areas of Godliness include fearing God, loving God, and desiring his presence. Christ has called each of his beloved Saints to walk on this hard road that leads to life. On this walk, we have to guard ourselves from falling into two extremes which we are all at times prone to fall into which are lawlessness or legalism.  The Christian life is a balanced life. Fearing God will keep us from the error of lawlessness and loving God will keep us from legalism.  Loving and fearing God would cause us to desire God more and more. Desiring God is the very heart beat of the Godly person.

Do you desire God?

God promises-"You will seek me and find me, when you seek me with all your heart."

The great desire of the Apostles Paul's heart was "That I may know Him"

Politics: According to the Bible

Proverbs 14:34-"Righteousness exalts a nation: but sin is a reproach to any people."

You can't read the Bible and ignore Politics because the bible speaks a great deal on the subject. I was talking to a christian a couple of weeks ago and he couldn't see why you would bring the bible into  politics and government and stated to me "we are no longer  living under a theocracy."    It's funny because as Christians, to resolve our personal, family, and church issues, we go to the Bible to find our answers, but when it comes to our nations issues, we want to switch books. 

The Bible says in Psalm 33:12 "Blessed is the nation whose God is the LORD; and the people whom he has chosen for his own inheritance." But as a nation, when you ignore God and go against the principles set forth in his Word, you can expect the consequences. America is a nation of abundance and there is no question God has blessed America. But in recent years, things have changed. Think back to the increase in our national debt, increase in divorce rates, terrorists attacks, homicides, immorality,  theft, and massive hurricanes that constantly come against our shores. If we want God to protect us, we must do that which is pleasing in His sight. We get insight into how God deals with a nation by looking at the Nation of Israel.  God Promised that if the nation of Israel would honor him, it would enjoy many blessings such as being a land flowing with milk and honey. To the contrary, if the nation disobeyed God, they would lose those blessing, his protection,  and come under His Judgement. 

The bible says, "He makes nations great, and he destroys them; he enlarges nations, and leads them away." When a nation turns from God by endorsing and even committing such things as the shedding of innocent blood, redefining what marriage is, God will be faithful to judge that nation and in scripture, when God judges a nation he does this by various means such as turning the nation over to its enemies, taking away the nation's freedom or its privileges, or  outright even destroying that nation.  The same Bible that restores our own souls, restores our families and churches is the very same tool  that is needed to restore our Nation. The only hope our nation has is found in this verse. Now the beautiful thing about God's Word is that its not just what God has said, it's what God is saying. This is a truth of Scripture that is Universal and it applies to every nation and to every people group."Righteousness exalts a nation: but sin is a reproach to any people."

Knowing God- Life's Greatest Pursuit

John 17:3-"And this is life eternal, that they might know thee the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom thou hast sent."

Eternal life isn't dying and then going to heaven, eternal life is knowing God. Do you know God? Are you prepared to meet God? How do you know God and how do you prepare to meet God? First you must repent of your sins and then you must believe that Jesus Christ died on the cross for you, was buried, and was raised on the third day. All you need to do is receive Jesus Christ in to your life and humbly accept with an empty hand his gift of righteousness and forgiveness of sins. Eternal life begins the moment you know Jesus and if you don't want Jesus now, then you won't want him then. The knowledge of God. That is where it all begins. It is the greatest pursuit any individual can ever engage in.  On this lifelong pursuit, the more  you begin to know Jesus, the more you would love Him, the more you love Him, the more you will be able to trust Him. The more you trust Jesus, the more you would obey him. And when you obey Jesus, you would simply be blessed because  Jesus said in John 13:17-"If you know these things, blessed are you if you do them." 

Grow in the Knowledge of God-

The apostle Peter urges those who have began to  know God to "grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ."

So what are you pursuing after? Is it pleasures? Is it possessions? or is it popularity?  Try as you might like Solomon who had  more riches than Bill gates, was more popular than Justin Beiber, and had more woman than Hugh Hefner but I guarantee you on the authority of God's Word that you will never find a greater purpose or passion in life than Knowing God. That is why the Apostle Paul said he had one goal in life- "That I may know Him"

Breaking the Power of Death: Conquering your Greatest Fear

Acts 2:42-"God raised him up, loosing the pangs of death, because it was not possible for him to be held by it."

Death is too strong of an enemy to overcome. Death destroys all the beauty and hope of man. No matter how much you try to wrestle him, no matter how much try to fight against him, you are going to lose. But their is one who faced death head on and defeated him at his strongest place. Death laid his hands on the Lord Jesus Christ. But death can only lay his hands on the guilty, he cant lay his hand on the innocent. Death had no right to claim anyone who it doesn't have the right to claim.Therefore, Jesus broke the authority of death because he was innocent. That is why as the Scriptures say it was not possible for Jesus to be held by death, hell, or the grave. On the third day, Jesus rose from the grave, and today he is Alive.

He is no longer in the tomb, but on the throne! 

The Resurrection of Jesus is the heart of Gospel, you can't preach the Gospel without preaching the Resurrection of Jesus. You might ask what makes Jesus different and why should I listen to and believe in him opposed to the founders of other world religions. Its simple, they lived, they died, they are dead. Jesus lived, Jesus died,  and Jesus rose again! Their is no need for you to follow a loser, Jesus is the ONLY one who defeated mans greatest enemy who is death and he is the ONLY one who offer's humanity the free gift of eternal life and forgiveness of sins! I am everlastingly thankful I have this Gospel to preach!  I am thankful that it doesn't all end with death.! I am thankful Jesus has given me a hope that is steadfast and sure.

1 Corinthians 15:55-57-"“O death, where is your victory? O death, where is your sting? The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law. But thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ."

JESUS IS RISEN!

1 Corinthians 15:17-20  "And if Christ has not been raised, your faith is futile and you are still in your sins.Then those also who have fallen asleep in Christ have perished.If in Christ we have hope in this life only, we are of all people most to be pitied.But in fact Christ has been raised from the dead,"

What was the central truth of the early apostles preaching?
What caused the miraculous growth of the early church?
Why did Christian's in the past and even today risk and forsake all to spread the Gospel throughout the entire earth?

The answer to all these questions is the Resurrection of Jesus. " He Is Alive" was  the cry of  the early Christians as they spread the Gospel throughout the entire world.

At some point in your Christian walk, you may have asked some  very difficult questions such as " Is Christianity really true? Could it be that God really doesn't exists? Is Jesus the ONLY way to heaven?

I'm here to tell you that the Resurrection of Jesus is the proof that Jesus is everything he said he was, that God really does exists, and that His grace will save US who place our Trust in Him for Our Salvation!