ACTS TELLS US THAT ONLY THE APOSTLES
CARRIED OUT THE GREAT COMMISSION:
THUS ONLY THEY COULD PERFORM
WATER BAPTISM, HEALING THE SICK
AND CASTING OUT DEMONS.
ACTS TELLS US THAT ONLY THE APOSTLES CARRIED OUT
THE GREAT COMMISSION:
THUS ONLY THEY COULD PERFORM WATER BAPTISM, HEALING THE SICK, AND CASTING OUT DEMONS!
JAN LILLEBY
We find only two exceptions from that rule, namely Stephen and Philip – the two deacons authorized by the apostles (Acts 6).
Please scrutinize Acts if you can manage, - but you will not find one single example of baptisms, healings, - and other miracles such as raising the dead and casting out demons, unless the apostles did this, plus Stephen and Philip.
Raising the dead however, was only performed by Jesus, Peter and Paul – and there it stops!
Private miracles with the general members of the congregations are NOT reported in Acts. Why? Because it simply did not happen. Jesus had given the power of the Holy Spirit, to work miracles and signs ONLY by the apostles.
The little flock at Joppa was in despair, since one member died of sickness, - Tabitha. They were in grief. I am sure that the flock of believers there prayed to God. But: They decided to get Peter to visit them; for they knew that the apostle had powerful Holy Spirit gifts. They knew that their little flock had NO SUCH POWER GIFTS! They knew that only the twelve apostles had been given the power of signs and miracles. It happened that it was Peter who was not far from Joppa in this case. Had it been…lets’ say John or James, then they would have sent for one of them. We don’t know for sure, but it seems likely. But the text suggests that it was important to the flock that Peter would arrive sooner rather than later! (v. 38).
Acts 9:36-42 tells of the great miracle which God performed through Peter’s ministry,
“36 Now in Joppa there was a disciple named Tabitha (which translated in Greek is called Dorcas); this woman was abounding with deeds of kindness and charity which she continually did.
37 And it happened at that time that she fell sick and died; and when they had washed her body, they laid it in an upper room.
38 Since Lydda was near Joppa, the disciples, having heard that Peter was there, sent two men to him, imploring him, "Do not delay in coming to us."
39 So Peter arose and went with them. When he arrived, they brought him into the upper room; and all the widows stood beside him, weeping and showing all the tunics and garments that Dorcas used to make while she was with them.
40 But Peter sent them all out and knelt down and prayed, and turning to the body, he said, "Tabitha, arise." And she opened her eyes, and when she saw Peter, she sat up.
41 And he gave her his hand and raised her up; and calling the saints and widows, he presented her alive.
42 It became known all over Joppa, and many believed in the Lord.”
Notice verse 42: The great miracle became a sign from God, in Joppa, and brought many people into the faith!
And also, please notice another Biblical truth: This miracle performed by Peter, did not expand into a miracle-mania…making Peter raising dead people all over Judea! The Holy Spirit found it right to do this one great miracle-sign, to have the Kingdom-Gospel of Jesus Messiah reach into local communities – like we just read in Acts 9. Peter did not start ‘Waking Up the Dead’ meetings, or ‘Miracle Meetings’ like the many maniacs of our time, all those fake TV-Healers and false teachers strewn around the entire nation. Both in America as well as Europe and Asia.
God worked miracles ONLY through His elected ‘frozen’ number of a total of just13 apostles, plus the two deacons Stephen and Philip.
The Acts story goes so explicitly into this, and thus points so accurately to the facts, that it says….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.
And in Acts 6 we find the two deacons, Stephen and Philip – as already mentioned above. They were especially chosen by Christ from among the seven deacons elected.
Never will you find that miracles and signs and baptisms were happening unless the apostles were involved.
It was not (as so many bewildered Christians think) as if the entire congregation performed miracles or carried out baptism of new converts. No, this was done by the apostles. They were the leaders and the congregation followed their instructions.
Someone may try to point to the 3000 at Pentecost Acts 2, who were converted and baptized: How could these twelve manage to baptize a multitude of 3000? Well – they did. But not in just one or two days’ time. It does not say how long time these baptisms took, but never the less they were baptized by the authorized twelve apostles. Luke is shorting it down a bit, since he did not tell of WHERE they baptized them. Was it in Jordan? Or was it in the nearest lake? Any large Pools around other than the Bethesda? We are not told, but we are told that they actually baptized 3000 believers. Acts 2:38-41, NASB,
38 Peter said to them, "Repent, and each of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins; and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.
39 "For the promise is for you and your children and for all who are far off, as many as the Lord our God will call to Himself."
40 And with many other words he solemnly testified and kept on exhorting them, saying, "Be saved from this perverse generation!"
41 So then, those who had received his word were baptized; and that day there were added about three thousand souls.
Verse 41 must be understood….all those who had believed Peter’s speech were baptized, over some time – but on that day of Pentecost God had saved about three thousand souls. They believed first, and THEN they were baptized in water, which took some time to carry out. So they were not baptized on the very day of Pentecost in Acts 2.
Christian pastors/evangelists/Bible tutors in our time who carries out water baptism, are doing so UNAUTHORIZED by Christ!
Because, in our time, - we have no apostles among us. They all passed away within the first century or so. Tradition holds John to have lived till 102-104 CE, and was the last of the twelve who died.
And let me add to this fact, that as we find the fall of Israel in Acts 28:25-28 in 60 CE when Paul spoke judgement against the disbelieving Sanhedrin in Rome, the Kingdom-Gospel preaching to Israel fell away with them. Thus also that ‘Kingdom water baptism’, which only was for the Messianic Kingdom-believers in the time of the twelve apostles. Consequently we find Paul, in Eph. 4:5 - that from now on (since Israel was fallen spiritually) there was just ONE kind of baptism, namely the baptism into the death of Christ. Water baptism were out, for Paul dismissed it since there no longer was any Israel (in the eyes of God) to preach to. God gave up on the nation. This still is so, after almost 2000 years. See Col. 2:11, 12 on the baptism into Christ’s death. It is likened with a circumcision done without hands (only God perform such an ordinance). The moment one becomes a believer in Christ, God ‘baptizes’ the person into the death of Christ. No water rite is needed anymore.
Christianity, as a whole, has by no means inherited the ministries of apostles, prophets and these other ministry gifts in apostolic times. And they have made an error-within-the-errors by thinking that ….okay, we are not apostles and we cannot work miracles, but we can do those more ordinary duties, such as baptizing believers, keep Holy Communion ceremonies, and so on and so forth. Not understanding that baptizing was included exclusively with the apostles only! We cannot find that the congregations in Acts carried out baptisms in the absence of an apostle! Likewise, we cannot find any miracles and wonders taking place among the congregations, unless there was at least one apostle present there. You get the gist of it???
They were a frozen number – totaling 13 apostles, plus the two special deacons mentioned – Stephen and Philip.
Reading the epistles written in apostolic times, we cannot find one single example of any apostle telling or instructing the recipients of these epistles to just go on and baptize new converts or heal the sick!
It is just not there! And there is not a chance that Luke could have forgotten these things….like, there were miracles among the congregation member in private…as well as such ones also carrying out water baptism, etcetera. This is not what happened. Luke, found not mentioning such scenarios, was not because of him being nonchalant. It was because these things did NOT happen freely among the members. It happened ONLY when an apostle or several was engaged in ministry.
If it was the regular practice with the apostles – telling their believers to act like them and carrying out the Great Commission – we would have seen it in their epistles. Plus, Luke would have told it in his Acts Book.
What should you do if you get your eyes opened to these truths and you feel bad about having been in a false/stolen position in ministry?
Answer: Do as I once did!
I quit it all at once. I was a Pentecostal believer when young, speaking (supposedly) in tongues, getting baptized, laying hands on sick believers (nobody got healed!) and so on and so forth. Getting hold of proper Bible understanding with the ‘Acts-28’ camp helped me getting things straight. E.W. Bullinger, Charles Welch, Stuart Allen and other pioneers of the Acts-28 belief brought on lots of true and Biblical teaching with their books and articles, helping me to get to order of Biblical understanding. It took some time, yes, but I am glad to have done it. We cannot live a lie – portraying ourselves as we would be equal to the apostles regarding teaching and ministry.
Christianity as a whole, has failed miserably…they have acted as if they are having ‘apostolic authority and power’ – and like them doing baptisms and laying hands on the sick and so on.
After the fall of Israel in Acts 28:25-28 as Paul declared that the gospel was now sent to the Gentiles, the apostle got a fresh revelation from Christ, as seen in Eph. 3:1-9, NASB,
1 For this reason I, Paul, the prisoner of Christ Jesus for the sake of you Gentiles -
2 if indeed you have heard of the stewardship of God's grace which was given to me for you;
3 that by revelation there was made known to me the mystery, as I wrote before in brief.
4 By referring to this, when you read you can understand my insight into the mystery of Christ,
5 which in other generations was not made known to the sons of men, as it has now been revealed to His holy apostles and prophets in the Spirit;
6 to be specific, that the Gentiles are fellow heirs and fellow members of the body, and fellow partakers of the promise in Christ Jesus through the gospel,
7 of which I was made a minister, according to the gift of God's grace which was given to me according to the working of His power.
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;”
(Editor’s emphasize)
The Kingdom-preaching ministered by first the twelve apostles, followed later by Paul (who also went to the gentiles/proselytes) was ended abruptly – by this new ‘oikonomia’ (dispensation or administration), given to Paul for us gentiles.
The Kingdom-Gospel in Acts’ time line was for Israel only, plus a few proselytes; but the revelation given Paul for us, was for THE ENTIRE WORLD, and Jew and Gentile was sat on equal level in the faith, because Christ had torn down the wall of partition – which was the Law of Moses (Eph. 2:14, 15). The Body of Christ, we Christians of our time since Paul got this, we constitutes that ‘One New Man’ coming up due to the abolishing of the Law and Ordinances.
As the Kingdom-preaching stopped, so did also the twelves’ ministry. Even Paul was suspended from being a minister to preach that type of national gospel – as Christ now turned him into being a ‘prisoner of Christ for the Gentiles’.
The fall of Israel happened spiritually in spring 60 CE, as we read Acts 28:25-28. But ten years after, in 70 CE Israel was destroyed by the Roman Empire. This because God in His fury against the ungodly Israel, took revenge on behalf of the martyred apostles and prophets; ref. Mat. 22:7 and the prophetic warning by Jesus…saying that God would kill those murderers who killed His Saints, and even burn down their city (which was Jerusalem). Jesus’ prophecy was fulfilled in 70 CE as Rome took Israel and destroyed the nation utterly.
The Christian general ministry of the free Grace-Gospel of Paul, based upon the revelation of the Mystery, means we cannot perform things like water baptism, laying on of hands to heal the sick, speaking in tongues, casting out demons, holy communion, confession of sin, speaking prophesy, - for we are NOT apostles. Only they were told by Christ to do these things, and nobody else. There exist no inspired ministers in our time, that’s for sure!
Gracepano.com
