Sign Gifts:
The Apostolic Age
&
The Gentile Age
By Dr. Jerry Lloyd
“And the very God of peace sanctify you wholly; and I pray God your whole spirit and soul and body be preserved blameless unto the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.” I Thessalonians 5:23
When I was young, every Sunday afternoon we would watch a TV broadcast of a man that would have people come up onto the podium where he would grab their head, then raise one hand up in the air and say, “Heal him, and make him whole!” Consequently, I developed an erroneous belief that physical healing and being made whole was synonymous.
These two terms are often closely related, but they are not the same thing. “Wholeness” refers to the healing of the spirit: Ephesians 2:1, “And you hath he quickened, who were dead in trespasses and sins,” soul: “Psalm 41:4 “I said, LORD, be merciful unto me: heal my soul; for I have sinned against thee.” and body: Luke 4:18 “The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he hath anointed me to preach the gospel to the poor (spirit); he hath sent me to heal the brokenhearted (soul), to preach deliverance to the captives, and recovering of sight to the blind (body,) to set at liberty them that are bruised,”
Miraculous healing was always very obvious. Jesus did not have to tell them that this aspect of their wholeness had been granted. Spiritual healing was less obvious, so Jesus would tell them that because of their faith they had been healed spiritually as well. Obviously, this was by far the most important of the healings. It would come through belief of the gospel. Belief in the gospel means we believe on the name of the Son of God. In other words, we believe in the person and work of Christ. We must believe His person-that He is the one true God who became a man, and we must believe in His work: that Jesus died to pay for all of our sin so that we can be certain of going to heaven.
Sometimes Jesus would heal someone and then tell them that, in addition to their physical healing, their faith had saved them spiritually. Sometimes, He would see their faith by which they were saved, and then heal them. Sometimes He healed them while they were yet in unbelief so that the healing would convince them to believe. The point is for a person to be “whole” he needs God working in his physical body, soul (emotionally) and spirit for his eternal welfare.
Pastor Jerry
Introduction-Enter the Gentile Age
Dispensations
We know of several ages or dispensations as the Bible calls them. We believe that there were seven or eight dispensations depending on how you place the dispensation of the time during the tribulation.
In the Old Testament there were five dispensations. They were the dispensation of innocence in the Garden of Eden, then there was conscience. After that there was government, and then promise. Finally, there was the dispensation of law.
Each of those had priestly positions that originally were supposed to go to the firstborn. The birthright included the right to become the high priest of the family, the head of the clan, and inherit the father’s property at his death. Several times the firstborn would lose this privileged position. Many times the firstborn would not respond properly, because they were unfaithful and, therefore, unworthy; they polluted the blood line, and sometimes they were not even believers. Therefore, they would lose their birthright, and occasionally, they would even sell their birthright.
The Dispensation of Law
When the dispensation of law came along, the children of Israel did not want their firstborn to be dedicated to the ministry or belong to the Lord as the family high priest since under law they would be expected to serve in the tabernacle and, eventually, the temple. So God chose the Levites instead of the firstborn, and thus began the Levitical priesthood. By the New Testament the Levitical priesthood had also failed miserably, and, consequently, we entered the church age.
The Church Age
The church age has two major divisions. The first part of the church age was the Apostolic Age. Or course, that was the age when the apostles were still alive. In A.D. 70, after Jerusalem fell to the Romans and the temple had been destroyed, all the apostles had been killed except for the apostle John. At that time the Church Age did a quantum shift by changing from having a primarily Jewish population to having a primarily Gentile population. At that point the church entered the Gentile Age. So the Gentile Age began in about A.D. 70, while the church Age began at Pentecost at the outpouring of the Holy Spirit on all believers.
The Apostolic Age
During the Apostolic Age the apostles and a few other believers were, actually, able to do miracles. These were signs, and so we call these sign gifts. We must understand that the sign gifts were signs. Well, duh. It is, consequentially, the nature of a sign that it is temporary and It is rare. If an event which we would consider a sign were to happen in ever age, then it would no longer be a sign, it would be common place, and it would no longer be considered miraculous.
So the sign gifts were to come to an end after the purpose for the sign gifts was fulfilled. The purpose of the signs was fulfilled in the finishing of the Word of God. The reason for the sign gifts was to verify the apostles’ authority to complete the Word of God, to the complete the revelation of the will of God to men, and to verify the completed word of God. It is noteworthy to understand that the word “complete” in the Bible is many times translated by the word “perfect.”
After A.D. 70 the Apostolic Age came to an end in that the sign gifts came to an end. The sign gifts came to an end, because the purpose of the sign gifts had come to an end. We now have the completed and perfect Word of God. Therefore, at that time things changed.
Sign Gifts
In reality, there were very few miracles in the Bible, and the miracles that are recorded usually came in clusters. Their purpose was to be a sign, and a miraculous sign by its very nature was very rare. If the signs were not rare, as has been mentioned in the introduction, they would be commonplace, and if they were commonplace, they would not be miraculous. Every few hundred years or so there would come along a man that God would use to perform several miracles. Moses did miracles, Elijah and Elisha did miracles, the apostles did miracles, and, of course, Jesus and His apostles did miracles. Apart from those people, there were instances of few miracles. There were answers to prayer, but not many miracles such as touching the eyes of the blind and the blind man receiving his sight.
Purpose of Signs
So why do we not see miraculous signs all of the time, and what were the purpose of miraculous signs? What should we expect concerning signs?
As we begin to study miraculous signs, let us begin in the Old Testament. The first person that did a lot of signs was Moses. Oh, there were some dreams that Joseph interpreted before Moses, but other than that, Moses was probably the first prophet to demonstrate miraculous signs.
Source of Miracles
Let me explain my word usage about Moses, Elijah, Elisha, and the apostles. None of them had the ability to perform miracles. God used them to perform the miraculous signs. When I say that they performed miraculous signs, I mean that God worked the signs and wonders through them.
A sign by its very nature must be rare and unnatural–or rather supernatural.
Sign of the Virgin Birth
An example of a sign is found in Isaiah 7:14 where the Lord said:
“The Lord himself shall give you a sign; Behold, a virgin shall conceive, and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel.”
This was a sign that Jesus would be virgin born. What made that a sign? It had never happened before, and it would never happen again. That is truly a sign. There are those who have translated the word for virgin incorrectly. There is even a translation of the Bible that translates that word incorrectly by using the phrase “young woman” even though the Hebrew word means “virgin.” What kind of sign would it be if a young woman would be expecting to give birth to a child? That would not be a sign at all. A young woman is the kind of woman that has children. That happens every day. Now, if a ninety year old woman, as in the case of Sarah, sais she was pregnant, you would wonder what she had been drinking. But if a woman who has never been with a man becomes pregnant, that would be a convincing sign.
What Is a Sign?
That is the point of a sign. The sign can only be done by God, and it is given to prove a particular point. A sign is something that happens once or very rarely. If it were an event that happened in every generation, it would be common place and would not be a sign. In order for something to be a sign it would have to be something that would not continue happen. Signs, by their very nature, do not happen to everybody or in every generation.
Old Testament Dispensations
During the Old Testament times there were five dispensations.
The Dispensation of Innocence
There was a time of innocence during which time man had not sinned. His only prohibition was not to eat of the tree of knowledge of good and evil, and his first instructions were to bear children to replenish the earth and have dominion over the earth so he could raise his children in the nurture and admonition of the Lord.
When man sinned by eating of that tree, God judged man by casting him out of the garden, and that dispensation came to an end. During that time man had fellowship with God face to face.
The Dispensation of Conscience
Then came the dispensation of conscience when every man did that which was right in his own eyes. Your conscious does not really tell you what is right and wrong; it simply tells you to do right. The Bible teaches us that our conscience can become seared and it can become evil. Therefore, it is very unwise to let your conscience be your guide. Furthermore, even if we let our consciences by our guide, we violate the promptings of our own conscience.
At the end of the dispensation of conscience, man thought he had accomplished God’s will, I guess, because he had replenished the earth with children, thinking they had fulfilled God’s first command to replenish and subdue the earth. However, man failed in this endeavor, because he allowed his believing sons to marry unsaved women, and, therefore, their descendants became evil tyrants. Consequently, God judged the replenished earth with a flood.
The Dispensation of Government
After Noah and his family left the ark, they entered into another dispensation. This dispensation was the dispensation of government. During this time mankind was supposed to multiply and spread out all over the earth. During this dispensation of government, mankind, actually, used government to disobey God’s instruction to spread out over the earth. Instead, mankind built a monument and false religion of worshipping the heavens to keep the people under one central authority and to keep them from spreading out and becoming many separate nations. God judged this rebellion against His instructions by confusing their languages at the tower of Babel, so that the people became scattered, and formed many nations throughout the earth, as God had commanded in the first place.
The Dispensation of Promise
Then came the dispensation of promise that ended with the children of Israel going down into Egypt where we see Moses being used of God to perform many signs. It should be noted that the Pentateuch, which is the first five books of the Bible, was written by Moses.
After the judgments in Egypt, there was a quantum shift in how man was supposed to worship God. Under conscience, government, and promise, man’s relationship to God was administered by the chosen elect head of the clan, who was, usually, the firstborn. An example of this would be Job. Job chapter one tells how Job would offer sacrifices for his children when he and other sons of God would present themselves before the Lord. Job lived only a couple hundred years before Moses.
Many times the firstborn was not worthy, because he was not godly, and sometimes he was not even a believer, as in the cases of Cain, Ishmael, Esau, and Ruben. So the chosen position went to one of their siblings. Because of his lack of faith or lack of godliness, many times the firstborn would forfeit his privilege of being the family’s priest and head of the clan.
The Dispensation of Law
During the dispensation of Law the children of Israel did not even want their firstborn to enter the ministry at all, so God chose the Levites to be their priests instead. It was still God’s will that the chosen ones would be the firstborn, but the children of Israel would not agree to that. Levi was not the firstborn among the twelve tribes of Israel. So the firstborn was set aside, and the Levitical priesthood was established by God. Eventually, the Levitical priesthood would be set aside because of their lack of faith, corruption, and wickedness. This wickedness came about very early on during the time of the judges. This is how Samuel became a priest and a judge. It was because of the wickedness of Eli’s two sons, Phineas and Hophni, whom God struck dead. So Eli lost both of his children, because they were wicked priests, and they were replaced by Samuel who was not even of the tribe of Levi. He became the priest in their place. So God kept by-passing heirs to the priesthood, because of lack of faith and lack of obedience, just like He did under the dispensation of promise. That is how God dispensed the responsibilities in the Old Testament.
In the New Testament the responsibility was still in the hands of the Levites, but they had become quite wicked by depending completely on their own good works for salvation, and their own heritage for their position in the priesthood and salvation as well.
The Dispensation of Grace
So God brought about a new thing. In Acts chapter two there is a huge change for the unbelieving Jews. The beginning of the church, age which would be the Dispensation of Grace, is
brought out by God in Acts 2 at Pentecost which was fifty days after the death of Jesus. At that time God showed the outpouring of the Holy Spirit on the Jewish believers in the upper room. They spoke in tongues, and that demonstrated the outpouring of the Holy Spirit by the speaking in tongues.
The Outpouring of the Holy Spirit on All Believers
Why did God demonstrate the coming of the Holy Spirit by their speaking in tongues? When the Holy Spirit comes, you see no evidence. That is what Jesus said in John chapter three. Since people see no evidence, people other than the person who just trusted Christ see no evidence at the time until they hear what you have to say with the tongue. Nobody knows that you have trusted Christ as your Savior until you tell them, “I just trusted Christ as my Savior!” You do not have to do that to receive the Holy Spirit or to gain eternal life, but if you do not tell anybody, people will not know it. If there is no change in your life, people will not know the power of the Holy Spirit in your life.
On this Day of Pentecost God demonstrated the coming of a new dispensation with the Holy Spirit being poured out in a brand new way. God let them know in a dramatic way. In effect He said, “I’m going to let them know that the Holy Spirit has come on all believers, and I’m going to do it by causing all that are in this upper room who have trusted Christ as their will speak in tongues. This would happen here where the Holy Spirit was poured out on the Jews, and little later we believe that He verified the coming on the Holy Spirit on all the believing Gentiles at Cornelius the centurion’s house.”
Why did He use the use of the tongue to accomplish this?
In the Old Testament the Holy Spirit came on prophets, priests, and kings to do empower them to do a special work for God. He did not come on all believers, but He was available to all believers to empower them to serve God, if they would ask for Him.
In the New Testament, according to Acts 1:8, the purpose of the Holy Spirit was to empower all believers to be witnesses. Thus the use of tongues to demonstrate the coming of the Holy Spirit on all believers was very appropriate, since the coming of the Holy Spirit was to share the plan of salvation with the world. What’s more, He came on all believers who, according to the New Testament book of Revelation, all had the potential to be God’s prophets, priests, and if they yielded to the power and provision by the Holy Spirit, kings both now, and in the coming Kingdom of God.
It was hard for the Jews that the Holy Spirit would come on all believing Jews including the women, because even Jesus taught that under law you needed to ask for the Holy Spirit. Then God would give you the Spirit for a while to do a particular job; then He would leave again. This is what happened in the upper room in John 20:22. He came to empower the disciples as they went from the upper room to gather His disciples to meet in Galilee.
The Change at Pentecost
At Pentecost all of that changed. From that time forward the Holy Spirit would come on all believers for the same reason-to empower them to be witnesses, but He would come at the moment of faith in Christ, and He would never leave.
The Gentiles Receive the Holy Spirit
However, the Jews would have never believed that any of the believing Gentiles, much less ALL of the believing Gentiles had, received the Holy Spirit unless there was convincing evidence. Thus God had the Gentiles who believed at Cornelius’ house speak in tongues as well.
As we consider this, remember, God demonstrates His attitude toward things one time. After that He will, usually, not repeat a sign concerning His plan, because thus is the nature of a sign. If it is repeated, then the sign loses its miraculous characteristics. The more often it is repeated, the more common it becomes.
God Demonstrates His Attitude Toward Sin One Time
Probably the best example of this can be found in the story of Sodom and Gomorrah. God demonstrated His attitude toward the sin of sodomy by pouring out His wrath on those cities, pouring out fire and brimstone, and destroying everyone in the cities except Lot and his two daughters. But He does not, usually, do that anymore, because today we would probably put our flags at half-mast and make a memorial out of the rubble. He did that once, and if you cannot learn from that, then you had better go back and read it again, because there is a day of reckoning. In II Peter 3:9-10 God says:
“The Lord is not slack concerning his promise, as some men count slackness; but is longsuffering to us-ward, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance. But the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night; in the which the heavens shall pass away with a great noise, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat, the earth also and the works that are therein shall be burned up.”
How Does God Warn of the Coming Wrath Against Sin?
You see in this age He wants to deal with sinful man through longsuffering or patience, so that they can have a chance to change their minds about their sin. But the judgment is coming. So as we live in this day of longsuffering and grace, who is responsible to warn the lost about the wrath to come? We are!
In the Old Testament the Holy Spirit came on the prophets so they would have the boldness and wisdom to confront sin. Now the same Holy Spirit has come on ALL believers. Does He make us meek and accepting of the same sins? God commands us to pray for boldness when confronting sin, and meekness when defending ourselves.
So in Acts 2 God pours out the Holy Spirit on all believers, but if He still did that in the same way today, then it was never really miraculous. It was commonplace. It would just be some kind of emotional upheaval. He still pours out the Holy Spirit on all flesh, but it is not manifested in the same miraculous way.
In Acts 2:17-18 God said:
“But this is that which was spoken by the prophet Joel; ‘And it shall come to pass in the last days, saith God, I will pour out of my Spirit upon all flesh: and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, and your young men shall see visions, and your old men shall dream dreams: And on my servants and on my handmaidens I will pour out in those days of my Spirit; and they shall prophesy. This (manifestation of the Holy Spirit) was that which was spoken of by the prophet Joel…And it shall come to pass that in the last days…”
The Latter Days
What exactly did God mean by the last days?
The latter days are to be considered in contrast with the former days. The last days would refer to the Church Age rather than the Age of Law. The former days are before the time of Christ, and the last days are after the time of Christ. So what He is talking about is He is telling what would happen in the age or days after Christ’s ascension. You see two distinct periods of time here.
Asking for the Spirit
“In the last I will pour out My Spirit on ALL flesh…” That is not just the prophets, priests, and the kings like in the Old Testament, when they had to ask for the Holy Spirit. It is possible that even some Gentiles received the Holy Spirit in the Old Testament, because some of them prophesied accurately. Even Balaam, who was a Gentile, accurately prophesied about the star that would appear at the birth of Jesus. However, the Holy Spirit did not come on all believers or even all believing Jews. You had to be a believer, and you, usually, had to ask for the Spirit. In this age, there is never any need to ask for the Spirit, because He comes on all believers whether they are Jews or Gentiles. That is the distinction between the Old Testament and The New Testament.
Instead of the responsibility of the father during the ages of conscience, government, and promise to ask for the Holy Spirit so that he could properly be the high priest to his family, and the responsibility of the Levites to ask for the Holy Spirit so that they could be godly priests of the house of Israel and Judah, now the Holy Spirit comes on All believers in the church, and we stand as the prophets, priests, and those who serve well will someday rule as kings as well, too.
Fulfillment of Prophecies
“All flesh means “all” believers, “sons and daughters…daughters shall prophesy…” That was fulfilled by the daughters of Philip the evangelist.
Remember, when a prophecy is fulfilled, it is not fulfilled and fulfilled and fulfilled and fulfilled. It is “fulfilled” or filled up (finished).
“And your young men…” Who was considered young at this time? John was. Sixty years later John saw a vision, which God inspired him to record in the book of Revelation.
“And your old men shall dream dreams.” This was fulfilled by Peter as he dreamed of the sheet let down from heaven.
“And on My servants, and on My handmaidens.” The reason He said this is probably to emphasize that the women would receive the Holy Spirit, too.
“I will pour out My Spirit and they will prophesy” Paul records that women should make sure that when they prophesy they must do it with their heads covered in I Corinthians 11:5 and in Titus 2:3-5 He points out that those to which they should prophesy should be the younger women. I Timothy 2:12 points out that they should not teach men.
The End of the Age
Now Paul makes another quantum leap in verse 19. While most of these prophecies were fulfilled during the apostolic age, he now jumps to the end of the Church Age and Gentile Age.
In these verses He tells us what the signs of the end of the Gentile Age will be. There will be “…Wonders in the heaven above, and signs in the earth beneath blood and fire and vapor of smoke and the sun shall be turned into darkness and the moon into blood before that great and notable day of the LORD comes.” This is referring to the second coming of Christ and the judgment surrounding it before and after. Now He has jumped to the last part of the Gentile Age.
You read about those things and their fulfillment in the twenty-two chapters of the book of Revelation. So God is speaking about the end of the church age.
Call on the Name of Jesus
Verse 21 says this: “And it shall come to pass that whosoever shall call upon the name of the LORD shall be saved.” If you are going to focus on the part of the verse where God says. “Shall be saved,” consider the fact that God speaks of at least two different types of salvation.
Eternal Salvation
First of all, whoever calls on the name of Jesus to save him, he is eternally saved. To call on Jesus’ name indicates that we believe on His name. After all how could a person call on His name if they did not believe His name? What does His name mean, anyway?” Jesus’ name has three distinct parts. It is Jah-Hovah (Jehovah)-Yasha. Jah refers to the Almighty revealer. Hovah refers to the fact that Jesus is the everlasting Father, and Yasha means “the one who saves and keeps and defends and protects, etc.” In other words Jesus does it all in regards to our eternal salvation. All we must do is believe or call on His name as far as our eternal salvation.
Temporal Salvation
However, God is also talking about being saved temporally. If we call on the name of the Lord, God will deliver us from some of these destructive things that will come at the end of Gentile Age, just as the children of Israel were saved from some of the plagues in Egypt.
So God says, “Whosoever shall call upon the name of the LORD shall be saved.” However, that is not the way it should be read here. It should be read “WHOSOEVER shall call on the name of the LORD shall be saved.” The emphasis should be on the word “whosoever.” The point was that all believers were going to receive the Holy Spirit, and not simply the Jewish prophets, priests, and kings; and whosoever can be saved. That fact is reiterated in Romans chapter ten. There also, God is focusing on the word “whosoever.” We like to focus on the word “saved.” That is good. We should be interested in other people’s salvation after we have trusted Christ as our Savior. That is exactly the purpose of the writing in Romans chapter ten. God is telling believers, both Jews and Gentiles, to confess Jesus Christ so that our people can be saved by faith alone in Christ alone.
The church age started out with what we call the apostolic age. The Apostolic Age was the age in which the apostles were verifying their privilege and responsibility to give us the rest of the Bible, and it was marked by miraculous sign gifts to verify the coming and completion of Scripture. Actually, the Apostolic Age was part of the Church Age and Age of Grace. It is distinguished from the Gentile Age by the fact of those sign gifts and the fact that the early church during that time was predominantly Jewish.
The easiest division to separate the Apostolic Age and the Gentile Age would probably be the destruction of the city of Jerusalem and the temple in that city. The land of Israel would draw its last breath as a land with the destruction of Masada shortly thereafter. It would not be revived until 1948 when the Jews would return to their homeland, which God had promised to them in the Old Testament. By A.D 70 all of the apostles had been killed except for the Apostle John who did not finish his writings until A.D. 96. When the apostles died, the apostolic Age was over, because the apostles were dead, the Word of God had been completed by the apostles and their secretaries, and, consequently, the sign gifts ceased. So in A.D. 70 the Church Age became the Gentile Age instead of the Apostolic Age since the church was by that time predominantly Gentile. At the very first the church was made up exclusively of Jews and proselytes. As time went by the Jews began to fulfill their responsibility to go into all the world and preach the gospel to ever creature (including the dogs or Gentiles), and soon the church became more and more Gentile in population until the Gentiles predominated the church. Then we entered the Gentile Age. At that time the privilege and responsibility to share the gospel with the world passed from the Jews to the Gentiles and a completely new dispensation began. That would be the Church Age or the Age of Grace.
In I Corinthians 12:4-10 we see some of the things that were introduced in Acts chapter two. Acts chapter two records the proof of the outpouring of the Holy Spirit by the sign of the miraculous gift of tongues. After the Holy Spirit had come, as was demonstrated by the miraculous gift of tongues, the apostles began to do other signs to verify their responsibility to complete the writing of the Scriptures by the inspiration of the Holy Spirit.
“Now there are diversities (differences) of gifts, but the same Spirit. And there are differences of administrations, but the same Lord. And there are diversities of operations, but it is the same God which worketh all in all. But the manifestation of the Spirit is given to every man to profit withal. For to one is given by the Spirit the word of wisdom; to another the word of knowledge by the same Spirit; To another faith by the same Spirit; to another the gifts of healing by the same Spirit; To another the working of miracles; to another prophecy; to another discerning of spirits; to another divers kinds of tongues; to another the interpretation of tongues:”
Who Did Sign Gifts?
Who received the responsibility to do these miracles?
Not everybody did. Only those who were going to help give the rest of the writings of the Bible. While everybody in the church receives the Holy Spirit, and gifts to be able to minister in the church, not everybody received the ability to do the sign gifts to verify their authority to add to Scripture. If everybody did miracles in the church, then what they did would no longer be recognized as miracles. They would be commonplace.
What Are Spiritual Gifts?
“There are diversities of gifts.” What are the gifts in general?
There are three words in this verse that compares words used as synonyms in the next two verses.
Verse 5, “And there are differences.” Differences corresponds with “diversities.”
“Of administrations,” corresponds with “gifts” in verse 4. So an “administration” is the same thing as a “gift.” Actually, administrations and gifts are not synonyms, but in this passage they definitely are referring to the same thing. It is important to understand that a gift is an administration. What is an administration? It is a ministry that you are responsible to administer. So the Holy Spirit has given a ministry to each one of us.
“But the same Lord.” Of course, this word corresponds to the word “Spirit.” The Lord and the Spirit are the same person. So diversities are differences, gifts are administrations, and the Spirit is the Lord.
Verse 6 He uses three more synonyms. “Diversities of operations.” Diversities are the same are the differences. (Does that make sense? Diversities are the same?) And the operations are the same as the administrations, which are the same as the gifts. So the gifts are administrations or operations. These words are not really synonyms either, but they are the same thing in this passage. This is how you operate your ministry by the power of the Holy Spirit. “But it is the same God.” God refers to the Spirit and the Lord.”
In Romans 12:4-6 we see another word that describes the gifts of the Spirit. He says:
“As we have many members in one body, and all members have not the same office: So we, being many, are one body in Christ, and every one members one of another. Having then gifts differing according to the grace that is given to us, whether prophecy, let us prophesy according to the proportion of faith.”
Here we see that the gift is called an office. So the gift of the Spirit is an administration, an operation, or an office. This is speaking of an office or position in the church. It is an office; it is an administration; it is an operation. It is a gift.
Then in the following verses God names some of the gifts and how they are used.
All Believer Receive Spiritual Gifts
In Ephesians 4:7 God says:
“Unto every one of us is given grace according to the measure of the gift of Christ.”
Every one of us has been graciously given by God a gift which is an office, an administration, an operation. God has given us an office in which to serve so the church will operate efficiently.
IF YOU DO NOT FULFILL YOUR OFFICE, THEN THE CHURCH WILL NOT OPERATE EFFICIENTLY. Things just will not go as they should. So God has given a gift, an administration, an operation, an office by God for you to fulfill. When you have proven yourself faithful exercising your administration or office over a period of time, then the church will recognize your ministry and place you in that ministry by the laying on of hands or ordination.
Verse 8: “Wherefore he saith, When he ascended up on high, he led captivity captive, and gave gifts unto men.”
What Are the Gifts of the Spirit of the Apostolic Age?
Let us look at what some of these gifts are. “And He gave some apostles.” (That was an office during the Apostolic Age.) “And some prophets.” Those offices were also during the Apostolic Age. Peter, Paul, and John all prophesied. So those miraculous sign gifts were definitely fulfilled during the Apostolic Age. We no longer prophesy by foretelling the future like the apostles did, but we can continue to forth tell or tell forth the Word of God and share its prophesies by preaching the Scriptures and the prophesies recorded there. I can prophesy many things because of what I know in Scripture. But if I start prophesying something that is not in the WORD OF GOD, then I have forsaken the instruction God has given concerning His giving of the completed Word of God and our preaching of it.
Gifts of the Gentile Age
Next God explains the gifts of the Gentile Age, which is the second portion of the Age of Grace or the church Age.
“And some evangelists, and some pastors or teachers.”
Back in I Corinthians 12:7 God says, “But the manifestation of the Spirit…” That which people see in our life…the administration of the ministry, the operation, the office… the gift “But the manifestation of the Spirit,” (through the gift) “is given to every man.” You have been given an office in which He expects you to faithfully manifest your ministry.
”To every man to profit withal.” The profit is talking about an opportunity to gain eternal rewards in heaven. God has put you in the church to fulfill a certain position whereby you can earn eternal rewards when you get to heaven, and God pays really well. What is more, if we serve Him faithfully here on earth, He will also bless us here on earth.
You may have heard that wonderful story about the fellow that had the dream about the two sets of footprints in the sand. The fellow in the story complained to Jesus that whenever things got rough, there was only one set of footprints. “Why did you leave me when I needed you the most?” he lamented. Jesus responded, “The reason there are only one set of footprints is because that was when I carried you.
l read a post on facebook that was shared with me that rings very true. It said, “God will always give you more than you can handle, so that He can carry you.”
You cannot handle the things in life without God carrying you. If He were not there, if He ever forsook you, you would not be able to handle the cares of this life.
The Purpose and Completion of the Purpose of Sign Gifts
At the beginning of the Apostolic Age God gave what we call sign gifts to usher in the Church Age. When the purpose of the sign gifts had been fulfilled, they ceased, because they had fulfilled their purpose of verifying the apostolic authority.
In John 20:30 God gives us the purpose for which He gave the apostolic authority and the sign gifts: “Many other signs truly did Jesus in the presence of His disciples which are not written in this book, but these are written that…” Here is the purpose for the signs. “That ye might believe that Jesus is the Christ the Son of God and that believing you might have life through His name.”
So the signs were so that the lost world would believe. The only way lost people are going to believe is by our sharing the gospel. Titus 2:11 says:
“The grace of God that brings salvation hath appeared to all men.”
“Teaching us that denying ungodliness and worldly lusts we should live sober and righteously and godly in the present world.”
Purpose of Gifts in the Gentile Age
If the lost are going to believe, we must demonstrate the grace of God in our life. That happens two ways. It happens either through living a godly changed life, or through living a defeated chastened life.
That is the purpose of the signs.
In Hebrews 1:1 God says:
“God who at sundry times and in divers manners spake in time past unto the fathers by the prophets.”
Time of Prophets Is Past
What does this verse tell us about the prophets? First of all we see that the time of the prophets was in the past. “Spake in times past.”
God Communicates Differently Now
Second, it was different then. It is not the same now. The way God communicates with man, now, is different from the time of the prophets. How did some of the prophets demonstrate their authority to prophesy the Word of God? They did it by miracles which consisted, usually, of the miraculous fulfillment of their prophecy.
How Can We Know the Truth?
Now it is divers from back then. It is different from back then.
If the prophecies have come to an end, how are we supposed to learn what the truth is? How are we supposed to know what to do? Did the prophecy cease? What did Jesus say?
In Matthew 11:13 Jesus said:
“For all the prophets and the law prophesied until John.”
So the last prophet ended with John. But the apostles prophesied in the New Testament. Where did they get their message of what to prophesy, and how were they confirmed as prophets of the Apostolic Age?
Verse 2 says:
“Hath in these last days spoken to us by His Son.”
So we receive the truth from God Himself in the flesh. But wait a minute, Jesus is not around anymore. So how are we going to know what He said?
Hebrews 2:3 God says:
“How shall we escape if we neglect so great salvation which at the first began to be spoken by the Lord, and was confirmed unto us by them that heard him.”
But how are we supposed to know what He taught. He never wrote any books of the Bible.
“And was confirmed unto us by them that heard Him.”
False Prophets and Spurious Writings
We receive the confirmation about what Jesus said and taught from the apostles during the Apostolic Age. But the apostles are all dead, how do we know what Jesus taught them? How do we know who had the authority to add to the Word of God and complete the Scripture?
Paul said in Colossians chapter one that He was the last one to be chosen to record the Word of God. So, the epistle of Judas which came along about fifty years ago was written after Paul was dead. The Pearl of Great Price, Doctrines and Covenants, The Book of Mormon, The Epistles of Barnabas, The Didache, and Josephus’ writing all came around after Paul. The Apostle, John, who did write after Paul, was chosen to write by Jesus Himself in John chapter 20, but he was not the last one chosen. Paul was.
All those that wrote after them may be historically accurate and useful and true, but they are not part of the Word of God and are not inspired by God.
“And was confirmed unto us by them that heard Him.”
In view of the fact that there are other writings that were written during the time the apostles were writing, how do we know that only the apostles had the authority to add to the Bible?
“God also bearing them witness both with signs and wonders.”
God chose the apostles in John chapter 20 and Paul on the road to Damascus in the book of Acts, but He confirmed Jesus words to those who were not there to witness what He said by the signs and wonders. During the Apostolic Age they could do miracles, and through the miracles it was demonstrated that God had chosen them to complete the Word of God.
As the Apostolic Age began to draw to a close, even the apostles ceased to be able to do miracles. Paul, for example, had demonstrated the ability to do miracles in the book of Acts, but later had a “thorn in the Flesh” from which Paul asked the Lord three times to deliver him, but God did not. He also wrote in the book of Philippians that he had to leave Apaphroditus sick without healing him.
The Completed Word of God
Now if the sign gifts continued beyond the Apostolic Age, then what would that have meant? What was the purpose of the sign gifts? They were to verify the additional writing to be added to the Bible. So if the miracles continued, then there would be a continued revelation of the Word of God, so there would be a continued addition to the Bible. However, Paul wrote by inspiration, that he was the last person to be chosen to complete the Word of God. In other words, the purpose for sign gifts has been fulfilled and there is no more need for sign gifts. They have ceased.
Healing and Recovery
Prayers are still answered in supernatural ways. However, usually, when we claim a miracle has happened, it is usually accompanied by having used medicine and being treated or operated on by a doctor. We will see later that that is exactly the way God instructs us in James chapter five. However, if the miracle had taken place the way they did during the Apostolic Age, there would be no need for a doctor.
So when the apostles died, by that time the Apostolic Age had ceased, and the verification to add to the Word of God ceased, therefore, the sign gifts ceased. That is the truth about signs and sign gifts.
Application
What is the application to us today? We have a job to do. That job is to fulfill the position God has for us in the church to facilitate, promote, and preach the plan of salvation to the lost by sharing the Scriptures which were verified to us by the miraculous signs demonstrated by those who gave us the Word of God.
The Final Message
What is that message? Eternal life is absolutely free. All we have to do is trust Christ’s death, burial, and resurrection as the only and complete payment for our sin to provide for our salvation. All we must do is believe that Jesus is God, and through trusting Him we can know that we have eternal life in heaven.
Dr. Jerry Lloyd
Memory Verse
“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.” I Corinthians 13:8
In the early church in the apostolic age, there were miraculous sign gifts. It’s kind of a no-brainer that by the very nature of a miraculous sign gift, they had to, eventually, come to an end. Otherwise, they would no longer be miraculous, and they would no longer be signs.
What three sign gifts would end according to this verse?
“____________, they shall fail; whether there be ____________, they shall cease;
whether there be ______________, it shall vanish away.”
Another sign gift that would be done away is brought out in the next verse. What was it?
“For we know in part, and we prophecy in part.” I Corinthians 13:9
“For we know in part, and we ________________ in part.”
“But when that which is perfect is come, then that which is in part shall be done away.” I Corinthians 13:10
Verse ten tells us when this would happen. When?
“But when that which is ______________ is come.”
I Corinthians 13:12 & James 1:23 & 25 tell us what that which is perfect is: “For now we see through a glass, darkly; but then face to face: now I know in part; but then shall I know even as also I am known. “For if any be a hearer of the word, and not a doer, he is like unto a man beholding his natural face in a glass.”“But whoso looketh into the perfect law of liberty, and continueth therein, he being not a forgetful hearer, but a doer of the work, this man shall be blessed in his deed.”
Pastor Jerry
Memory Verse
“And many other signs truly did Jesus in the presence of his disciples, which are not written in this book.” John 20:30
What were the many things Jesus did?
“Many other ______________ truly did Jesus.”
For whom did Jesus do the signs?
“Signs truly did Jesus in the presence of his ___________________.”
“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.” John 20:31
Why did the disciples write down the signs that Jesus did?
“These are written, that ye might __________ that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God.”
Memory Verse
“God, who at sundry times and in divers manners spake in time past unto the fathers by the prophets.” Hebrews 1:1
When did God speak by the prophets?
“Spake in time ____________ unto the fathers by the prophets.”
In what ways did God communicate in the Old Testament?
“God, who at sundry times and in __________________ manners spake.”
The word “diverse” means different. God is making it very clear that the way He communicated in the Old Testament has passed, and He has a different means to communicate with us now. That is exclusively through reading, preaching, and teaching His Word. Therefore: “Give attendance to reading, to exhortation, to doctrine.” I Timothy 4:13.
Memory Verse
“Hath in these last days spoken unto us by his Son, whom he hath appointed heir of all things, by whom also he made the worlds.” Hebrews:1:2
How has God spoken to us in this Gentile age?
“Hath in these last days spoken unto us by his _______ .”
But Jesus is no longer with us, and we have no knowledge of anything He wrote while He was here (though He did write in the sand once, but we have no clue what He wrote). So how can we know what He spoke?
The words that He spoke were meticulously recorded by those who heard Him. That is why you find the same words almost verbatim that He spoke at one time repeated in a different gospel with some variations and at a different town or time. His repetition met the same needs of different people, but also helped the disciples remember what He had taught them.
Memory Verse
“How shall we escape, if we neglect so great salvation; which at the first began to be spoken by the Lord, and was confirmed unto us by them that heard him.” Hebrews 2:3
How do we know what Jesus spoke?
“Spoken by the Lord, and was confirmed unto us by them that ___________ him.”
“God also bearing them witness, both with signs and wonders, and with divers miracles, and gifts of the Holy Ghost, according to his own will?” Hebrews 2:4
How do we know which of the ancient writings should be included in the Bible?
“God also bearing them witness, both with ________ and _________,
and with divers __________, and _______.”
Memory Verse
“Erastus abode at Corinth: but Trophimus have I left at Miletum sick.” II Timothy 4:20
What was Trophimus’ physical state when Paul left him?
“Trophimus have I left at Miletum _______________ .”
The question is, “If Paul had the gift of healing, as he had demonstrated in his early ministry, then why did he not heal Trophimus before he left him?”
The answer is really quite simple. Paul no longer had the gift of healing.
II Timothy was the last epistle that Paul wrote shortly before his execution. By this time his authority to record the words of Christ was well established, and, but for a few more lines, was finished.
Paul, apparently, no longer had the gift of healing when he wrote the book of Philippians as well. Read about the sickness of Epaphroditus in Philippians 2:25-27
_____________________________________________
Memory Verse
“And the prayer of faith shall save the sick, and the Lord shall raise him up; and if he have committed sins, they shall be forgiven him.” James 5:15
What was the prerequisite to healing in this verse?
“If he have committed sins, they shall be _______________ him.”
It is clear from this verse that in this age sickness is closely related to sinning and obtaining forgiveness for our sins. We are not talking about salvation here. Forgiveness has little to do with salvation except for the fact that Jesus’ unilateral forgiveness of the unbelieving rejecting world allowed Him to come and pay for the sins of a lost world. Forgiveness is for fellowship with God and other believers. While Jesus dying for our sin gave us the potential for fellowship with God, confession of sin to God and those we have sinned against helps fulfill that potential.
Signs
I-History
A-Old__________________
1-5 Dispensations (Responsibilities)
a-4-Fathers (First born)
b-Levites (In place of the First born)
2-Holy Spirit came on prophets, priests, and Kings
B-Church history-Church age started at Pentecost Acts 2:17-21
1-Apostolic age-Ended about A.D 70 (John until 96)
a-I Corinthians 12:4-11-Gifts
b-Romans 12:3-6-Offices
c-Ephesians 4:7-Gifts and Spirit given to all believers
2-Gentile age-I Cor. 13:8-12-Sign gifts _____________
II- ___________________ of sign gifts
A-John 20:30-31- __________ doctrine of Christ by Christ
B-Hebrews 1:1-2-Transition
1-Time of the prophets is past cf. Matthew 11:13
2-Methods were different
C-V2- _________________ His revelation through His Son
D-Hebrews 2:3-4
1-V3
a-Doctrine of salvation spoken by Christ to apostles
b-Confirmed to us by apostles through Word
2-V4-Apostles’ authority to write verified by sign gifts
III-Enter the ____________________ age
A-I Corinthians 13
1-V8-10-Sign gifts would cease when perfect came
2-V12-What is “That which is perfect?” James 1:23,25
3-Philippians 2:25-27 cf. II Timothy 4:20-Healing stopped
B-James 5:14-16- _________________ age healing
1-V14
2-V15
a-Save-Delivered from maladies
b-Sins forgiven-For fellowship I John 1:3-9
3-V16-Must confess for healing (No brainers)
a-Sin causes sickness-I Thessalonians 5:23
b-Confession restores fellowship and its benefits
Conclusion
Confession is vital for fellowship with God and whole person healing.
Signs
I-History
A-Old Testament
1-5 Dispensations (Responsibilities)
a-4-Fathers (First born)
b-Levites (In place of the First born)
2-Holy Spirit came on prophets, priests, and Kings
B-Church history-Church age started at Pentecost cf. Acts 2:17-21
1-Apostolic age-Ended about A.D 70 (John until 96)
a-I Corinthians 12:4-11-Gifts
b-Romans 12:3-6-Offices
c-Ephesians 4:7-Gifts and Spirit given to all believers
2-Gentile age-I Corinthians 13:8-12-Sign gifts ceased
II-Purpose of sign gifts
A-John 20:30-31-Verify doctrine of Christ by Christ
B-Hebrews 1:1-2-Transition
1-Time of the prophets is past cf. Matthew 11:13
2-Methods were different
C-V2-Completes His revelation through His Son
D-Hebrews 2:3-4
1-V3
a-Doctrine of salvation spoken by Christ to apostles
b-Confirmed to us by apostles through Word
2-V4-Apostles’ authority to write verified by sign gifts
III-Enter the Gentile age
A-I Corinthians 13
1-V8-10-Sign gifts would cease when perfect came
2-V12-What is “That which is perfect?” James 1:23,25
3-Philippians 2:25-27 cf. II Timothy 4:20-Healing stopped
B-James 5:14-16-Present age healing
1-V14
a-The agent
(1) Priests-Leviticus 13-15
(2) Apostles-Mark 6:15
(3) Elders
b-Oil-Luke 10:34-Good Samaritan
(1) What was the oil?
(a) Zodhiates p.119 aleipho-“To rub, to cover over, besmear”
(b) Robertson pp. 64-65 “The use of olive oil was one of the best remedial agencies known to the ancients. They used it internally and externally. “Some physicians prescribe it today. It is by no means certain that aleipho means “anoint in a ceremonial fashion rather aleipho means “rub” as it commonly does in medical treatises. Aleipho is the mundane and profane, (while) chriein the sacred religious word. At bottom in James we have God and medicine, God and the doctor, and that is precisely where we are today. The best physicians believe in God and want the help of prayer.”
(c) Wuest pp.125-126 “In James 5:14 directions are given to anoint the sick person with oil. In Luke 10:34 the Samaritan treated the wounds of the man with oil and wine. Olive oil was a common remedial agent used by the ancients and was used both internally and externally. At a time when the healing art was in its infancy, and medicines were few, olive oil was a panacea for many ills. Here the disciples are directed to use it in the healing of the sick. In the case of James 5:14 it is prayer and medicine, which resulted in the healing of the sick person…up to the time of the closing of revelation with the writing of the book of Revelation, God performed miracles of healing through the apostles. This was for the purpose of attesting their message as from Him. Since then there is no need of this. Hence God heals directly in answer to prayer now, not through individuals. The normal procedure now is prayer, the doctor, the use of medicine and other means as God may direct.”
c-Wine-Rotten fermented juice cf. I Timothy 5:23
(a) Alcohol
(b) Sugar
2-V15
a-Save-Delivered from maladies
b-Sins forgiven-For fellowship I John 1:3-9
3-V16-Must confess for healing (No brainers)
a-Sin causes sickness-I Thessalonians 5:23
(1) Body-9th and 10th steps of sin
(2) Soul-Personality (intellect, emotion, and will)
(a) Intellect-What occupies your thoughts
(b) Emotions-Depression, guilt
(c) Will-interpersonal relationships
(3) Spirit
(a) No fellowship or eternal reward God
(b) No fruit of the spirit (Love, joy, peace of mind)
(c) No answered prayer
b-Confession restores fellowship and its benefits
Conclusion
Confession is vital for fellowship with God and whole healing.