period o f history when there is no special necessity for authenticating God’s messenger or His message, it is not the gift described in the Bible. This princi ple involves an understanding o f God’s dealings throughout the various periods o f Biblical history. It is generally agreed that signs and miracles are quite largely confined to particular time periods in God’s program of revelation. Most would agree upon the period of Moses as being one o f these periods; the same is true o f the period o f Elijah and Elisha and that o f Christ and the apostles. In these eras there was special need for authenticating the messenger and the message he preached. In Moses’ case, there was need for identifying the man who was the God-appointed spokesman and leader of the people. The crisis in this case was the bond age of Israel and their deliverance from it. Elijah and Elisha in the same way needed miraculous manifestations to prove them to be God’s official voice in a time of apostasy. The same characteristic, o f course, is also ob servable in the ministry of Christ. As Peter de clares, He was to the men of Israel “ a man approved of God . . . by miracles and wonders and signs which God did by him” (Acts 2:22). The same confirmation was granted to the apostles and their associates according to the writer o f He brews : “God also bearing them witness, both with signs and wonders, and divers miracles, and gifts o f the Holy Ghost, according to his own will” (Heb. 2 :4 ). The need in this third case was to authenti cate a message which set aside the Mosaic Cove nant and instituted a new order under which new conditions were to exist. For example, a new body, the church, was to come into existence, and conse quently, the men who proclaimed the new revela tion as to this body needed some mark of authenti cation from God to show the truth o f their teach ing. This mark God supplied in the form o f miracu lous gifts o f the Spirit, such as tongues. Once this new truth has become established, however, there is no longer any need o f such mi raculous manifestations. In an objective, written revelation such as the Bible is, the necessity for widespread miraculous gifts o f the more sensa tional type is removed. For this reason, after the completion and recognition of the New Testament canon, there was no longer a place for authenticat ing signs; the truth now stood in authentic form, and tho confirmatory signs could add nothing to it. There is today the popular conception that signs were utilized to gain attention; while they did do this, their actual purpose was to authenticate the message being spoken (I Cor. 14:22). Miraculous signs, then, served their purpose in the period of transition from the old economy to the new. Paul alludes to this characteristic of tongues when he says, “Whether there be tongues, they shall cease” (I Cor. 13:8). He illustrates the manner of the gift's cessation by means o f an illustration
drawn from human development: “When I was a child, I spake as a child, I understood as a child, I thought as a child: but when I became a man, I put away childish things” (I Cor. 13:11). Certain behavior habits and mannerisms belong to the early stages of life, according to the apostle. But as one begins to reach adulthood and maturity, the earlier habits drop by the wayside. These habits do not leave the person suddenly, but gradually. Thus in the analogy, the writer does not speak of the ces sation o f tongues at the time o f Christ’s coming; instead he speaks of their fading off the scene after the church has developed sufficiently to render them unnecessary. As indicated previously, this stage was reached when the church came into possession of the written Word. Such principles could be greatly multiplied, but these will suffice for the present discussion. It should be emphasized that these principles are not by way of placing a limitation upon what God can do. Rather, they are simply a recognition of the limitation which God has chosen to place on Him self through His Word. If, in His dealings with men, He has chosen to use certain means, it is the proper responsibility of men to abide by the prin ciples which He has set up. To be sure, God may in isolated instances choose to use miraculous signs at the present time, but the widespread practice of these signs must be reserved for the periods that are critical in His dealings with the human race. The next such period will occur after the church has been caught away from the earth into the pres ence of Christ in heaven, while the world is being prepared for Christ’s return to establish His earthly kingdom. In the confusion of the present hour, it be- behooves the child of God to examine the Word of God very carefully in connection with the gift of tongues in order to understand “what the will of the Lord is.” Many are professing to have received this gift, but they have received it on premises dif ferent from what the Bible teaches. Whether their experience has been physical, emotional, psychologi cal or demonic, one cannot always tell. The fact nevertheless remains: they have been deluded. Some have even been misled into believing that a warm experience o f private prayer is synonymous with the gift of tongues. This is not true. More spe cifically, Romans 8:26-27 is not speaking of the gift o f tongues, but rather talks about a Spirit-led prayer life, apart from any special pneumatic en dowment. The believer comes to the limit of his own understanding in prayer, and the Holy Spirit carries on from that point. It is far better to seek God’s will as portrayed in the Scriptures than to seek after a particular emotional experience or an unusual manifestation that will attract attention to oneself. Such a course will yield far more fruit for Christ in the light of eternity. Q¥]
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THE KING'S BUSINESS
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