Did the baptism with the Spirit accompanied by supernatural power, signs and gifts pass away with the death of the apostles or the completion of the Bible? This lesson will seek to answer this question.
Actually, the two events go together. Some assume the inspired New Testament Scriptures were written by members of the 12 apostles, so it would stand to reason that when the apostles all died the Bible would be complete. But the truth is, the man who wrote more of the N.T. than anyone else was not even an apostle. Luke was a Gentile! And nobody knows who wrote the long book of Hebrews. James was not written by an apostle. It was written by the half-brother of Jesus who was not converted until after Jesus’ resurrection.
When did the apostles die? Nobody knows for sure. So when was the N.T. complete? Again, nobody knows for sure. The best guess is around 1500 A.D. when a reformer named Erasmus went around the Mediterranean world collecting the various manuscripts from the different churches. Even then Martin Luther, the main reformer, didn’t even believe James was inspired and didn’t want it included in the canon.
So, the question is mute because nobody knows when the Bible was canonized or when the apostles died, plus they certainly didn’t write all the N.T.
People surmise that the gifts died out when all the apostles died and the reason behind this belief is “the apostles did all the signs, healings, and miracles.” Several verses seem to teach this. Nobody would go blatantly against the Bible; they just pick certain verses to believe and teach to the neglect of other verses. Acts 2:43 says, “The apostles performed many miraculous signs and wonders.” Of course, no one would deny the apostles did miraculous things. Who would expect anything different?
Stay Connected with Grace Church!
Dive deeper into sermon notes and see how Christ is moving in our community by visiting our website: https://sites.google.com/view/gracehouseclinton/sermons
If you feel led to support our ministry, you can give securely here: https://give.tithe.ly/?formId=674824c2-5d42-11ee-90fc-1260ab546d11
Thank you for being part of our ministry! #GraceChurch #FaithInAction #terrysimpson #terry #simpson #clintonar #sermons #pastor #ministry #discipleship
