1.
Miraculous Spiritual Gifts - Why would God
stop them?
2. Miraculous Spiritual Gifts - Who performs these miracles today?
3. Miraculous Spiritual Gifts - The Transition Period
4. Miraculous Spiritual Gifts - The "Perfect" has Come
5. How Did Christians Receive Spiritual Gifts?
6. Are There Prophets Today?
Miraculous Spiritual Gifts - The "Perfect" has Come
1 Corinthians 13:8-10 Love never fails. But whether there are prophecies,
they will fail; whether there are tongues, they will cease; whether there is
knowledge, it will vanish away. 9 For we know in part and we prophesy in part.
10 But when that which is perfect has come, then that which is in part will be
done away.
What is "that which is perfect?" Is it the completion of the Bible, the rapture of the Church, the maturity of the Church, the New Heavens and New Earth, the Second Coming?
Remember the first century didn't have the New Testament. They relied on the prophets and apostles who spoke the mind of God. And of coarse the mind of God formed the New Testament, all the need for these gifts would pass away. After the New Testament was written all the gifts of prophesying and of tongues and of knowledge ceased.
Okay to answer the question of What is "that which is perfect?" It's all of them. The completion of the Bible, the rapture of the Church, the maturity of the Church, the New Heavens and New Earth, the Second Coming.
That which is perfect refers to the maturity of the body at the rapture of the
church, which happened at the second coming of Christ, in AD 70; bringing in the
New Heavens and New Earth which closed the cannon.
The word "perfect" is the Greek word teleion and means "mature". In
the eight occurrences in Paul's epistles, six are translated "mature." The
phrase "that which is perfect" is often used in the Greek language to speak of
purpose or a goal. In this context, it is the goal of God for the church.
Romans 8:29 For those whom He foreknew, He also predestined to become conformed
to the image of His Son, so that He would be the firstborn among many brethren;
We would be conformed into the image of Christ Jesus. That took place in AD 70, when the Lord returned, bringing in the New Heaven and Earth. This is where we see Him face to face. So the coming again of the Lord for his people brought them to full maturity and closed the cannon of Scripture.
The reason that spiritual gifts were temporary is that when we came into a face to face relationship with Christ, we
entered into a perfect maturity and there is no longer any need for spiritual
gifts. Gifts were for the purpose of maturing the body, and when the body is
completely matured we will no longer need spiritual gifts.
Ephesians 4:11-16 And He Himself gave some to be apostles, some prophets,
some evangelists, and some pastors and teachers, 12 for the equipping of the
saints for the work of ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ, 13 till
we all come to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to
a perfect man, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ; 14 that
we should no longer be children, tossed to and fro and carried about with every
wind of doctrine, by the trickery of men, in the cunning craftiness of deceitful
plotting, 15 but, speaking the truth in love, may grow up in all things into Him
who is the head; Christ; 16 from whom the whole body, joined and knit together
by what every joint supplies, according to the effective working by which every
part does its share, causes growth of the body for the edifying of itself in
love.
According to Ephesians 4:11-16 the gifts were to be used to bring the church to "maturity". The word translated "mature" in verse 13 is the same word used in 1 Corinthians 13:10, teleion. The purpose of spiritual gifts is to build up the body. Once the body is mature, we no longer need spiritual gifts.
To summarize this, Once we are in Christ, we are
in the spiritual kingdom, His body, the body of Christ. This is shy we
don't need spiritual gifts. In this passage in Ephesians, maturity is
defined as "attaining to the whole measure of the fullness of Christ." And
this happened at the Second Coming.
W cane prove that prophecy ended in AD 70, and all the gifts; and that the Lord
Jesus Christ returned at that time bringing the church to full maturity and a
face to face relationship.
Daniel 9:24 "Seventy weeks are determined For your people and for your
holy city, To finish the transgression, To make an end of sins, To make
reconciliation for iniquity, To bring in everlasting righteousness, To seal up
vision and prophecy, And to anoint the Most Holy."
One of the things that Daniel was told would happen by the end of that period was that God would "seal up vision and prophecy".
What does "seal up vision and prophecy" mean? Does it means the end and complete fulfillment of all prophecy? Yes!
To "seal up vision and prophecy" clearly means to give prophecy and fulfill it.
Daniel's prophecy then, tells of the time when all prophecy would cease to be
given and what had been given would be fulfilled. When would this be? Daniel's
vision ends with the destruction of Jerusalem that occurred in 70 AD (v26).
Let's compare Daniel 9: 25-27 with Matthew 24:15 and following where Jesus said
the Abomination of Desolation and his coming would occur in his generation.
Daniel 9:25 "Know therefore and understand, That from the going forth of
the command To restore and build Jerusalem Until Messiah the Prince, There shall
be seven weeks and sixty-two weeks; The street shall be built again, and the
wall, Even in troublesome times. 26 "And after the sixty-two weeks Messiah shall
be cut off, but not for Himself; And the people of the prince who is to come
Shall destroy the city and the sanctuary. The end of it shall be with a flood,
And till the end of the war desolations are determined.
Who is, "the prince who is to come," of verse 26? Some say this is the beast.
The nearest antecedent for the coming prince in verse 26, would carry us back to
the "Messiah the Prince" (verse 25), who was cut off (verse 26). Therefore,
Christ becomes the one and only "Prince" in the whole context. The "people of
the prince" speaks of the Jewish people who were the ones responsible for the
destruction of the city Jerusalem and the temple in AD 70, when all of the facts
of biblical and secular history are considered.
Daniel 9:27 Then he shall confirm a covenant with many for one week; But in the
middle of the week He shall bring an end to sacrifice and offering. And on the
wing of abominations shall be one who makes desolate, Even until the
consummation, which is determined, Is poured out on the desolate."
In the middle of the 70th week, comes the abomination that makes desolate. When
this happened, prophecy ceased. We know from the teaching of Jesus when this
happened.
Matthew 24:15-16 "Therefore when you see the 'abomination of desolation,'
spoken of by Daniel the prophet, standing in the holy place" (whoever reads, let
him understand), 16 "then let those who are in Judea flee to the mountains.
The "abomination of desolation" is referring to the Roman army in the holy
place, which is the city of Jerusalem.
Matthew 24:21 "For then there will be great tribulation, such as has not
been since the beginning of the world until this time, no, nor ever shall be.
"Then" - being when the Roman armies surrounded and laid siege to Jerusalem in
AD 70. There is no tribulation to equal what happened in AD 70, prior to it or
after it. The great tribulation is over, it happened in AD 70.
Matthew 24:34 "Assuredly, I say to you, this generation will by no means
pass away till all these things take place.
"This generation" -- the generation that Jesus was speaking to. The generation
that was listening to Jesus speak would experience all he had spoken of,
including the great tribulation and His Second coming.
So Daniel tells us that his vision ends with the destruction of Jerusalem, which
would bring an end to all prophecy. This is exactly what Luke tells us.
Luke 21:20-22 "But when you see Jerusalem surrounded by armies, then know
that its desolation is near. 21 "Then let those who are in Judea flee to the
mountains, let those who are in the midst of her depart, and let not those who
are in the country enter her. 22 "For these are the days of vengeance, that all
things which are written may be fulfilled.
All prophecy was to cease, and be fulfilled by the time Jerusalem was destroyed,
which happened in AD 70. What Paul says, in 1 Corinthians 13, is prophecy will
end when the perfect comes; this is what Daniel said hundreds of years earlier.
Prophecy will cease at the destruction of Jerusalem in AD 70, when the Lord
returns with power and glory.
I have asked this question in our past studies
and I'll ask it again. If the world was coming to an end at the second
coming, why would we need to know that Prophecy will cease and all the
gifts would not be given anymore? That's like saying Gosh when I get to
heaven I won't be able to prophesy and use my miraculous gifts anymore.
Another words, life must go on here on earth to understand Prophecy will cease
and all Prophecy will be fulfilled.
Ephesians 4:11-13 And He Himself gave some to be apostles, some prophets,
some evangelists, and some pastors and teachers, 12 for the equipping of the
saints for the work of ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ, 13 till
we all come to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to
a perfect man, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ;
Paul says in verse 13, "till;" there again you have termination. Daniel says
prophecy would cease, and Paul says the same thing in 1 Corinthians 13 and
Ephesians 4.
If "seal up vision and prophecy" means to give and fulfill all prophecy, and if
all prophecy is not yet fulfilled then; all prophecy has not yet been given.
That would mean that there is still prophecy being given, which would mean that
the Bible is not compete, and that the Charismatic's are right; God is still
speaking through the gift of prophecy. Can you live with that?
The charismatic gifts of the Spirit were to continue throughout the last days
according to:
Acts 2:16-20 "But this is what was spoken by the prophet Joel: 17 'And it
shall come to pass in the last days, says God, That I will pour out of My Spirit
on all flesh; Your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, Your young men shall
see visions, Your old men shall dream dreams. 18 And on My menservants and on My
maidservants I will pour out My Spirit in those days; And they shall prophesy.
19 I will show wonders in heaven above And signs in the earth beneath: Blood and
fire and vapor of smoke. 20 The sun shall be turned into darkness, And the moon
into blood, Before the coming of the great and awesome day of the LORD.
The last days began at Pentecost and ended in AD 70. The charismatic were to
continue until the coming of the day of the Lord. If the Lord
has not yet come and the Last Days are still in progress, then the charismata
still have to be around. The Holy Spirit was to perform His functions until Christ returned.
John 14:26 "But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in
My name, He will teach you all things, and bring to your remembrance all things
that I said to you.
John 16:13-14 "However, when He, the Spirit of truth, has come, He will
guide you into all truth; for He will not speak on His own authority, but
whatever He hears He will speak; and He will tell you things to come. 14 "He
will glorify Me, for He will take of what is Mine and declare it to you.
If Christ has not yet returned, then the Holy Spirit must still be doing His job
of revealing all truth. All the revelatory gifts of the Spirit would still be
around and the cannon of inspired scripture would not be complete. But if the
cannon of Scripture was complete in the first century, then the gift of prophecy
ceased as well.
1 Corinthians 1:5-8 that you were enriched in everything by Him in all
utterance and all knowledge, 6 even as the testimony of Christ was confirmed in
you, 7 so that you come short in no gift, eagerly waiting for the revelation of
our Lord Jesus Christ, 8 who will also confirm you to the end, that you may be
blameless in the day of our Lord Jesus Christ .
Are the "revelation," "the end," and "day" of the Lord still future? If so, then
all the gifts of the Spirit must still be available today because it says that
we would not come short of any of them while waiting for the Lord to return.
Let's remember audience relevance, Paul was speaking to the
Corinthians in the first century, THEY (not you) were eagerly waiting the Second Coming of
the Lord Jesus Christ. When the Lord returned in AD 70, the Last Days ended and
so did the gifts.
Believing that Christ has not yet returned, makes holding the position that SOME
of the gifts have ceased. Believing the last days ended in AD 70,
and that the destruction of Jerusalem was God's "Revelation of Christ Jesus "
completely removes the dilemma and inconsistency! We would not be consistent
unless we believe the miraculous gifts of the Holy Spirit have ceased, and the
futurists are not consistent unless they believe that all of the gifts are still
available. You can't say that the perfect has not yet come but that the gift of
prophecy has ceased. That is inconsistent.
Let's look at some other Old Testament Scriptures that show us when prophecy was
to cease.
Isaiah 51:1-3 "Listen to Me, you who follow after righteousness, You who
seek the LORD: Look to the rock from which you were hewn, And to the hole of the
pit from which you were dug. 2 Look to Abraham your father, And to Sarah who
bore you; For I called him alone, And blessed him and increased him." 3 For the
LORD will comfort Zion, He will comfort all her waste places; He will make her
wilderness like Eden, And her desert like the garden of the LORD; Joy and
gladness will be found in it, Thanksgiving and the voice of melody.
Isaiah is calling Israel to remember the Abrahamic promise. The Abrahamic
promise involved the redemption of Israel, true spiritual Israel. Who is Zion?
It is the heavenly Jerusalem, the bride of Christ, the true Israel of God.
Hebrews 12:22 But you have come to Mount Zion and to the city of the
living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, to an innumerable company of angels,
Isaiah 52:7 How beautiful upon the mountains Are the feet of him who
brings good news, Who proclaims peace, Who brings glad tidings of good things,
Who proclaims salvation, Who says to Zion, "Your God reigns!"
We know this is a Messianic prophecy because Paul quotes it in Romans 10:15. Now
watch the next verse.
Isaiah 52:8 Your watchmen shall lift up their voices, With their voices
they shall sing together; For they shall see eye to eye When the LORD brings
back Zion.
Isaiah said that Israel would be in a face to face position when God, in
fulfillment of the Abrahamic promise, redeemed Israel. Israel was to see eye to
eye when the Lord restored her. When was the Lord going to restore Israel? At
the consummation of the 70 weeks of Daniel 9, which was the destruction of
Jerusalem in AD 70.
Daniel 9:24-27 "Seventy weeks are determined For your people and for your
holy city, To finish the transgression, To make an end of sins, To make
reconciliation for iniquity, To bring in everlasting righteousness, To seal up
vision and prophecy, And to anoint the Most Holy. 25 "Know therefore and
understand, That from the going forth of the command To restore and build
Jerusalem Until Messiah the Prince, There shall be seven weeks and sixty-two
weeks; The street shall be built again, and the wall, Even in troublesome times.
26 "And after the sixty-two weeks Messiah shall be cut off, but not for Himself;
And the people of the prince who is to come Shall destroy the city and the
sanctuary. The end of it shall be with a flood, And till the end of the war
desolations are determined. 27 Then he shall confirm a covenant with many for
one week; But in the middle of the week He shall bring an end to sacrifice and
offering. And on the wing of abominations shall be one who makes desolate, Even
until the consummation, which is determined, Is poured out on the desolate."
Israel would see eye to eye when the Lord restored her. Isaiah said in 52:8, the
Lord would restore Israel at the consummation of the 70 weeks; which was the
fall of Jerusalem in AD 70, according to Daniel 9:24-27. Six blessings are
promised at the restoration of Israel.
"Finish transgressions"- in the New heaven and earth, which came at the end of
the seventieth week, transgression would be "finished." Through the covenant of
mercy, the New Covenant, the curse of the law would be removed.
"Make an end of sins "- Ezekiel prophesies of the time when an end would be made
of Israel's sins. A time when Israel would be "clean."
Ezekiel 36:24-28 "For I will take you from among the nations, gather you
out of all countries, and bring you into your own land. 25 "Then I will sprinkle
clean water on you, and you shall be clean; I will cleanse you from all your
filthiness and from all your idols. 26 "I will give you a new heart and put a
new spirit within you; I will take the heart of stone out of your flesh and give
you a heart of flesh. 27 "I will put My Spirit within you and cause you to walk
in My statutes, and you will keep My judgments and do them. 28 "Then you shall
dwell in the land that I gave to your fathers; you shall be My people, and I
will be your God.
This prophecy is occurring with the seventieth week of Daniel, and the new
heaven and earth of Revelation 21. This is the promised New Covenant.
"Make reconciliation for iniquity"- or "to cover iniquity." The sins of Israel
would be atoned for and covered or forgiven of God. It would be a time of
redemption.
Romans 11:26-27 And so all Israel will be saved, as it is written: "The
Deliverer will come out of Zion, And He will turn away ungodliness from Jacob;
27 For this is My covenant with them, When I take away their sins."
When did Christ come out of Zion? Not at his first coming, but at his second
coming. Daniel said that these things would happen at the destruction of
Jerusalem, and Paul says they would happen when Christ comes out of Zion.
"Anoint the most Holy"- or the "holy of Holies." The "holy of Holies" was
fifteen feet in length, width, and height, or a perfect cube. It symbolized the
dwelling place of God. When the earthly tabernacle was destroyed in AD 70, the
heavenly tabernacle, the new Jerusalem, was opened to believers.
Hebrews 9:8 the Holy Spirit indicating this, that the way into the
Holiest of All was not yet made manifest while the first tabernacle was still
standing.
The New Jerusalem of Revelation 21 is a perfect cube.
Revelation 21:16 The city is laid out as a square; its length is as great
as its breadth. And he measured the city with the reed: twelve thousand
furlongs. Its length, breadth, and height are equal.
The perfect cube of the holy of holies now finds its fulfillment in the perfect
cube of the city of God.
Now, Paul says that the miraculous gifts of the Holy Spirit would cease when
Israel would see face to face (v12). Therefore the miraculous gifts of the Holy
Spirit ceased at the consummation of the 70 weeks. We cannot divorce Israel's
promise of seeing eye to eye from 1 Corinthians 13, and therefore, we must
acknowledge the first century cassation of the miraculous gifts.
Isaiah 62:10-12 Go through, Go through the gates! Prepare the way for the
people; Build up, Build up the highway! Take out the stones, Lift up a banner
for the peoples! 11 Indeed the LORD has proclaimed To the end of the world: "Say
to the daughter of Zion, 'Surely your salvation is coming; Behold, His reward is
with Him, And His work before Him.'" 12 And they shall call them The Holy
People, The Redeemed of the LORD; And you shall be called Sought Out, A City Not
Forsaken.
This is the same theme of Isaiah 52:8, they shall see eye to eye when the Lord
brings back Zion. Now look at verse 11: "Say to the daughter of Zion, 'Surely
your salvation is coming; Behold, His reward is with Him,"
Matthew 16:27-28 "For the Son of Man will come in the glory of His Father
with His angels, and then He will reward each according to his works. 28
"Assuredly, I say to you, there are some standing here who shall not taste death
till they see the Son of Man coming in His kingdom."
Whose salvation was Jesus to be? He was to be Israel's salvation. Is he the
promised redeemer of Isaiah 62:11? In
Matthew 16:27 Jesus is quoting from Isaiah 62:11. Now, Isaiah 52:8 and 62:11
both speak of the same time and event, the redemption of Israel at the coming of
the Lord. Jesus, quoting Isaiah 62:11, said that his coming for the salvation of
Israel, when Israel would see face to face, would be in the life time of his
first century disciples. When Israel saw face to face, the miraculous would
cease, and this was to happen in the life time of the first century disciples at
AD 70, when Jerusalem was destroyed.
If Matthew 16:27-28 was fulfilled at Pentecost, as some say, then the miraculous
ended at Pentecost, which is when they began.
So what have we seen? Paul said that prophecy would cease when the perfect came.
Daniel said prophecy is to end at the destruction of Jerusalem. Jerusalem was
destroyed in AD 70. Therefore, the "Perfect," of verse 10, has come! The
"perfect" referred to the Second Coming of Christ that took place in AD 70,
bringing in the New Heaven and Earth, where we see Him face to face. So the
coming again of our Lord for his people brought them to full maturity and closed
the cannon of Scripture. Which means that the miraculous gifts of the Spirit
have come to an end. The gifts were for the period of the "last days;" when the
last days ended, so did the gifts.
So, If we don't have spiritual gifts today, then why do we need
Pastor's? If there is not the gift of teaching today, what is my role
as a pastor? Did Old Testament Israel have pastors and elders? Yes, they did.
Did they have spiritual gifts? No. The New Testament church is to have pastors
and elders, also. There is no spiritual gift requirement for an elder. It simply
says he must be" apt to teach." Meaning that he knows and can handle the
Scriptures, to teach sound doctrine, and be able to refute error.
There is a lot of confusion today about Spiritual gifts; do you know why that
is? It's because they were for the last days, and when the last days ended, so
did the gifts. This is why so many believers have no clue as to what their gifts
are, they don't have one.
Listen carefully to the definition of spiritual gifts: A spiritual gift was a
God-given capacity through which the Holy Spirit SUPERNATURALLY ministered to
the church. If the gift of teaching was functioning today, wouldn't all teachers
be saying the same thing? If it is a supernatural function of the Holy Spirit,
would the Holy Spirit be teaching different things?
The talents and abilities that we have, come from God and are to be used for His
glory. God leads, guides, and uses us for His glory. Spiritual
Gifts were for the age of immaturity, they are no longer needed or given.
I have good news for you, you can stop wasting your time trying to figure out
what you Spiritual Gift is, and just be busy serving Him with all the talents
and abilities He has given you. The perfect is come and love is a priority in
this age. Let's focus on loving one another. "The greatest of these is love."
For even more on Miraculous Spiritual Gifts See: