IT IS QUITE OBVIOUS ISN’T IT?
NO APOSTLES ARE HERE AND NO MIRACLES.
IT IS QUITE OBVIOUS ISN’T IT:
THERE ARE NO APOSTLES HERE
IN OUR TIME, THUS A TOTAL ABSENCE
OF MIRACLES AND SIGNS.
JAN LILLEBY
As we open the Bible reading Acts, it becomes quickly obvious to us that ONLY THE APOSTLES were given the power and authority by Christ to perform miracles, signs and wonders, and to baptize converts.
In my latest articles in this topic I have pointed to this fact exceedingly and repeatedly…again and again…and this article rest much upon that.
Since the apostles passed away within the first Century, there has been no one following them, as genuine personally hand-picked and chosen inspired ministers, or ‘sent-out-ones’ (Greek, apostolos) …thus having such ministers down through the Centuries – up until our time.
No one has been seen or heard…carrying such miraculous powers – you know, tongues, casting out of demons, healing all sicknesses, baptizing converts in waters, and so forth, since Paul healed Publius’ father and his sick friends at Malta in 60 CE as he was shipwrecked, Acts 28. Even the Pentecostal movement…”Assemblies of God”, admits in their writings that the miracle-signs and tongues had not been seen or heard on earth for almost 1850 years when the Azusa Street revival started in 1906 in Los Angeles. In this statement found in their papers, they were absolutely correct! But they failed miserably when they started to declare: “Pentecost Has Come!”…as they thought that God had sent the Acts-2 Pentecost repeating it…with tongues and signs.
Christianity today has lots of believers trying to portray themselves as apostles and prophets, on the same spiritual level as the ones seen in Acts. But they are all in error, because there is no doubt that God never ever sent new apostles after the first ones died.
Acts is presenting quite a number of miraculous incidents attached to the apostles of Jesus Christ.
While at the same time, Luke reports of nobody among the assembly doing the same miracles and wonders as them, except for two men: Philip and Stephen.
IF THERE ARE NO APOSTLES, THEREFORE IT WILL
NOT BE ANY MIRACLES AND HEALINGS
According to Jesus the apostles was given the following ‘marching order’,
Go into all the world and preach the Gospel
Baptize them in water
Heal the sick
Cast out demons
And they did as He told them. Acts is full of incidents showing forth powerful manifestations of the Holy Spirit as He inspired them to perform signs, wonders and miracles,
Acts 3: Peter healed the lame beggar at the temple gate.
Acts 5: Peter and the eleven caused a great healing-wave to hit Jerusalem and the towns nearby – even Peter’s shadow caused healings as he walked the streets up to the temple! Demons were cast out, in so much that Acts 5:15-16 declares: …and they were all being healed!
“15 to such an extent that they even carried the sick out into the streets and laid them on cots and pallets, so that when Peter came by at least his shadow might fall on any one of them.
16 Also the people from the cities in the vicinity of Jerusalem were coming together, bringing people who were sick or afflicted with unclean spirits, and they were all being healed.”
Verse 12 tells a lot:
“At the hands of the apostles many signs and wonders were taking place among the people; and they were all with one accord in Solomon's portico.”
The signs, miracles and wonders were almost literally ‘glued’ to the apostles!
And here we are at the core of the Bible truth, that if there are no more apostles, there will not be any miracles!
That is a fact and a Bible truth in our time.
Paul, as he stayed at Ephesus, Acts 19:11-12, (55-57 CE) experienced a Holy Spirit wave of miracles and wonders in ministry, much like the wave seen in Acts 5 with Peter and the eleven,
“11 God was performing extraordinary miracles by the hands of Paul,
12 so that handkerchiefs or aprons were even carried from his body to the sick, and the diseases left them and the evil spirits went out.”
NOTICE: Same word used for Paul as for the twelve in Acts 5: BY THE HANDS OF PAUL, (by the HANDS of the apostles).
Still Luke did not tell of miracles and signs eventually happening through the regular believers, as if such manifestations of God’s power should have been strewn around freely in the world! He kept telling the solid truth: Paul was used by God, and nobody else regarding these miracles at Ephesus.
But wait a minute….if the miracles and signs were glued to the apostles, what about the ordinance of water baptism? The answer is clear up in the bright daylight: baptism was glued to the apostles, just as much as miracles and signs were!
CHRISTIANITY HAS TAKEN CERTAIN LIBERTIES
By performing water baptisms (most Christian denominations do) they have ‘stolen’ an ordinance which only was given for the apostles to perform. No place in Acts can we find baptisms performed by other than the apostles, except Philip – who was ordained by the apostles for ministry (Acts 6). The Holy Spirit chose Philip and Stephen to perform miracles and wonders (Acts 7-8). The other five Deacons were no longer mentioned by Luke.
No Christian minister today can ‘lawfully’ (in the eyes of God) and Biblically perform baptisms, lay on hands for healing sick believers – as well as trying to do exorcism with believers who they think have evil spirits. IMAGE ABOVE: The latest Pope, Leo XIV, as seen during the Inaugural Mass. In which he quoted the Catholic doctrine of leading an apostolic church. But we know that God never sent any new apostles after the original ones died in the first Century! But he is not alone in thinking that he is God’s apostle (inherited from Peter), almost all known Christian denominations keep up ordinances like baptism and others, thus copying what originally were given to the apostles only.
Acts proves that these things were given only to the apostles to perform, and cannot be taken as something which was inherited down through the Centuries, like what is found with the Papal Office.
What a mess. Christianity has disregarded every God-given signal found in Scripture, and kept doing what it never was told to do!
By trying to get people healed á la the apostles in Acts, they actually tell of themselves that they are apostles in our time, without words.
Ministers who baptize people in water make the same error, thus telling that they are apostles in our time, without words. Perhaps they do not mean to, but anyway this act or ordinance was only performed by the apostles.
Nowhere can we find that Peter, James, John or Paul ever taught and ordered a regular member of the assembly to go baptizing and trying to ‘heal’ sick people. They knew very well that such power was only entrusted to them, the real apostles!
THE ONE BAPTISM IN EPHESIANS 4:5
Paul’s mention of ‘one baptism’ in Eph. 4:5 is not a water baptism!
He explains that this is a form of baptism which takes place in the same moment a person comes to faith in Jesus Christ. God then baptize the convert into the death of Christ…thus he is also considered as raised with Christ. In Col. 2:11-12, Paul likens this move of God with being circumcised without hands (no minister doing this)…thus God is the One Who makes that circumcision.
“11 and in Him you were also circumcised with a circumcision made without hands, in the removal of the body of the flesh by the circumcision of Christ;
12 having been buried with Him in baptism, in which you were also raised up with Him through faith in the working of God, who raised Him from the dead.”
Paul, knowing that such an ordinance as water baptism no longer was valid as he wrote Colossians, due to the change of dispensations, the oikonomia charis (Greek for administration of Grace) which Paul had revealed to him (Eph. 3:1-3).
He knew that this Charis of God, God’s Grace Gospel would be the one and only salvation Gospel in times following him…until God would conclude that dispensation, and there would be NO apostles following him after his death, - the baptism ordinance was dismissed. As were all the sign gifts and miracle manifestations of the Holy Spirit. They all seem to vanish entirely after the close of Acts.
I cannot tell any of you ministers out there what to do, if you see that my teaching is correct. I cannot tell you other than…try to follow your conscience and integrity as an honest believer in Christ.
It can be painful spiritually to admit to failure in certain issues. We all make failures at times. But we all also try to make corrections when failure is discovered!
I wish you the best of luck, and may God in His Grace bless you all.
Paul, - and his ministry to us Gentiles, Eph. 3:8-9, NASB,
“8 To me, the very least of all saints, this grace was given, to preach to the Gentiles the unfathomable riches of Christ,
9 and to bring to light what is the administration of the mystery which for ages has been hidden in God who created all things”
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