The Church Rebuked for Being Deceived

Transcript

GR 1827
01/31/2016
The Church Rebuked for Being Deceived
2 Corinthians 12:11-12
Gil Rugh

I want to direct your attention back to Paul's second letter to the Corinthians as we come toward the end of this letter. Very personal section, perhaps the most personal section of all Paul's writings, these closing chapters of Paul's second letter to the Corinthians. The Corinthian church is a difficult church, we'll say more of that as we move through the rest of this chapter in future studies. Paul has been put in an awkward position of having to defend himself, of trying to cause the Corinthians to see more clearly the importance of the issue of his role in their lives in bringing them to Christ and getting them established in the faith. The problem is the church at Corinth had been infiltrated by those who were altering the truth that Paul taught, not in direct ways but in subtle ways.

Come back to 1 Corinthians 1 if you would, the first letter we have recorded in our Scripture that Paul wrote to the Corinthians, 1 Corinthians 1. There he made clear the foundational truths that he presented when he came to Corinth for the first time. The historical record is in Acts 18, but here Paul says concerning his ministry, wherever he went but particularly applicable to the Corinthians for them to be reminded. Verse 17, “For Christ did not send me to baptize but to preach the Gospel, not in cleverness of speech so that the cross of Christ would not be made void.” We believe there is a place for baptism as a testimony by those who have believed, baptism cannot save you. It is not necessary for your salvation. Paul said God didn't send me to baptize. It would be a terrible thing to say if baptism was necessary for a person to be saved. He said He sent me to do one thing, preach the Gospel, and not in a way that displayed human wisdom, but in a simple, direct, clear way. “For the word of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to those who are being saved it is the power of God.” We cannot lose sight, there is only one way of salvation, only one way in which God's saving power can be brought to a heart and mind, to bring the cleansing from sin, the forgiveness, the new life that prepares for the rest of this life and prepares for eternity. And that's to hear and believe the message of the cross of Christ.

Now this truth becomes foundational to what Paul writes through the rest of this first letter and also through the second letter. It permeates Paul's letters. Confusion on this issue results in an eternal hell. There can be no variation here. The devil is constantly at work in undermining these truths. So attention gets turned away from the finished work of Christ on the cross to trust in my church, to trust in my baptism, to trust in my communion, to trust . . . (fill in the blank). I've shared with you, I was baptized as a baby. Didn't save me, just got me wet and probably made me cry. But I wasn't saved. In fact it was a hindrance because people begin to think my church says baptism is necessary so I was baptized, even as a baby. Therefore, I should be all right. And besides, my parents and my grandparents and whatever your history is, my dad had medals for not missing a Sunday. Being a young person to a young adult, they gave out awards for that. He was lost and without hope in the world. Didn't come to know Christ until later as a young adult around the age of 30. People get confused and the trust is placed in something. Attending this church won't save you, being baptized in this church won't save you. That's what Paul is declaring. This seems foolishness to the people of the world, whether they declare it or they manifest it by just ignoring it. It's not a big issue to me, I have other things.

Down in verse 21, “Since in the wisdom of God the world through its wisdom did not come to know God, God was well-pleased through the foolishness of the message preached to save those who believe.” Down in 1 Corinthians 2, “When I came to you, brethren, I did not come with the superiority of speech or of wisdom, proclaiming to you the testimony of God. I determined to know nothing among you except Jesus Christ and Him crucified.” Because you had to trust in Christ and the truth concerning Him, not in men's wisdom, not in men's traditions, not in men's practices, but in Christ. And the passion to maintain the clarity of that truth moves Paul in all he does. And for people then to live consistently in light of that truth. He didn't call the Corinthians to clear up their lives and try to live better lives, he called the Corinthians to believe in Christ as the One who could bring them forgiveness and cleansing.

So you come over to 2 Corinthians where we are, we're in 2 Corinthians 12, but you'll note in chapter 11 what Paul is dealing with. 2 Corinthians 11:3, “I am afraid that as the serpent deceived Eve by his craftiness,” going all the way back to the original deception, “your minds will be led astray from the simplicity and purity of devotion to Christ. For if one comes and preaches another Jesus whom we've not preached, you receive a different spirit you've not received a different Gospel which you've not accepted, you put up with this beautifully.” This is a problem in the church at Corinth. False teachers, false apostles have come in and they have corrupted the message, not always by what they openly deny but what they add to it. Here, adding Jewish practices—keep the Mosaic Law, keep the Ten Commandments, be circumcised. They added that. Paul says down in verse 13, “Such men are false apostles, deceitful workers, disguising themselves as apostles of Christ. No wonder for even Satan disguises himself as an angel of light. Therefore, it is not surprising if his servants also disguise themselves as servants of righteousness, whose end will be according to their deeds.”

Let's face it, every religious group, whatever kind, every church, to bring it into that realm, says the same thing. If you follow our teachings, you will be acceptable to God. We'll tell you what will please God, how you can be sure you go to heaven, if they don't teach everybody is going, anyway. Paul says it is not so. This is a serious matter. The devil is at work producing counterfeits to keep people from coming, to see with clarity and understanding that the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ as full payment for sin is the only way of salvation. How sad. People go to church regularly, baptize, partake of what they call sacraments, do all kinds of things and in other types of religions sacrifice themselves. Some become “martyrs,” thinking they are going to heaven and getting a whole cluster of virgins. That's not what God says. Jesus said “I am the way, the truth and the life, no one comes to the Father but by Me.” Period. Very narrow. Jesus said “the gate is narrow, the way is narrow that leads to life and there are few that find it.” But it's wide enough if you want to go through it. It's not so narrow it excludes those who are willing to place their faith in Christ and follow Him.

So when we come to 2 Corinthians 12, what Paul has been dealing with in these closing chapters, why we are looking at this, is the church at Corinth has been influenced by these false apostles. They claim to be even superior to Paul, they come with a display of what appeals to people—that wisdom that Paul said he didn't display when he came to Corinth, that intellectual manifestation that people think he is pretty intelligent, he must know what he is talking about. And it overrides the simplicity of what God has done. You don't need great intelligence to understand you are a sinner. Bottom line, you are a sinner. Apart from Christ you are on your way to an eternal hell, there is no other option apart from Christ. These that come, they look like Paul shared something of his miserable life—suffering, persecution, trial, difficulties, beatings. And then come those successful ones, looking good, accomplishing much, recognized more broadly in the world. And pretty soon Paul didn't look like much, and they are a lot better speakers.

We have a Presidential contest going on now, I guess it will be decided on who is the best debater. We begin to look at things—how does this person look? How do they talk? Are they successful? Those that were influencing the church at Corinth looked more “successful” than Paul. Paul has been dealing with it graciously, firmly but graciously. It is frustrating. He was the one who led them to Christ, he's the one who grounded them in the truths that God had revealed. And now he was being put in a position where he had to try to defend himself to the Corinthians and argue that he was a genuine apostle. Because the false apostles that come in are moving Paul out. Because the reason to try to replace Paul is to replace his message and the truth God is conveying through him. It has been something he has brought up several times.

Come back to 1 Corinthians 9, he touches on this subject as the chapter opens up. “Am I not free? Am I not an apostle? Have I not seen Jesus our Lord?” We'll talk more about this in a little bit. “Are you not my work in the Lord? If to others I am not an apostle, at least I am to you, for you are the seal of my apostleship in the Lord.” In other words how did you come to know Christ? How did you come to hear the Gospel? Through Paul. I shouldn't have to defend myself to you.

In 2 Corinthians 3:1, “Are we beginning to commend ourselves again? Do we need as some letters of commendation to you or from you? You are our letter, written in our hearts, known and read by all men, being manifested that you are a letter of Christ, cared for by us,” and so on. You came to know Christ through my ministry, I shouldn't need a letter of recommendation to you. You should be my letter of recommendation, you are the testimony of my genuineness of my being an apostle of Jesus Christ who brought you the Gospel.

So you come back to 2 Corinthians 12. Paul has been acting, what he said, foolishly. The false apostles presented themselves as the best speakers, the most successful in what they did. Paul said all right, I'll brag about myself but yet it is foolish. But he bragged about he suffered more persecution, he was beaten more times, he went hungry more times. And on it goes. He asked “who is the true follower of Christ, who has given his life to bring the truth of the Gospel to others.” But he said, “it is foolish, I shouldn't have to try to prove myself to you.” I mean, you don't feel comfortable bragging about yourself, even when you brag how much you suffered. You say, that's a form of boasting, telling people. And it is, Paul said, but it's the opposite of what they are doing.

Now what he is going to do with 2 Corinthians 12:11, as you get to the close of this letter, he is going to turn around and become more blunt. And the rest of this chapter and into chapter 13 he is going to directly rebuke the Corinthians, if you will. We've seen touches of it, now he is going to really emphasize it. True, there are false apostles, false teachers in the church and they are good at what they do. Paul addressed that in chapter 11. But now he tells the Corinthians, “do you know what? There is no excuse for you having been deceived by these false apostles, it shouldn't have happened, it shouldn't be happening. You shouldn't have fallen for their deception.” Good reminder, no matter how good the counterfeit Satan brings, a true believer has no excuse for being deceived by the error. That's what Paul is going to tell them.

2 Corinthians 12:11, “I have become foolish, you yourselves compelled me.” The foolishness is bragging about his suffering, boasting that he suffered more than these other men did. I shouldn't have to be trying to convince you of the genuineness of my apostleship and my message. “Actually, I should have been commended by you.” The Corinthians should have been the ones to step up to Paul's defense, they know that he is genuine. He brought the Gospel to us, he's the instrument God used to bring God's salvation to our city. I should have been commended by you. And “in no respect was I inferior to the most eminent of the apostles.” I think it's irony or sarcasm here. These who presented themselves as the super apostles, Paul compared to us is nothing. And he says at the end of verse 11, “though I am a nobody.” Because what is going on in Paul's life and ministry is not a testimony to the greatness of Paul, it is a testimony to the greatness of the message that Paul brings. I don't come behind any of these who consider themselves eminent, upper level apostles, but I am a nobody. That's what they say, Paul is nothing. That's right, because everything Paul is, he is by the grace of God, as he reminds the Corinthians.

So this becomes a constant issue. Paul is not battling because he wants the place of prominence, but his apostleship as a representative of Jesus Christ is tied inseparably to their truthfulness and finality of the message that he preaches. The purpose that these false apostles have in discrediting Paul is to undermine and discredit the message. That's always the case. The devil is at work in trying to blind the minds of the unbeliever so that the light of the Gospel of Jesus Christ doesn't shine in. Constant battle of Paul.

Turn over to Galatians 1. He reminded them of the Gospel that he preached in verses 3-4, “The Lord Jesus Christ who gave Himself for our sins so that He might rescue us from the present evil age according to the will of our God and Father.” What does verse 6 say? “I am amazed that you are so quickly deserting him who called you by the grace of Christ for a different Gospel, which is not one like I preach. There are some who are disturbing you who want to distort the Gospel of Christ, but even if we or an angel from heaven should preach to you a Gospel contrary to what we have preached to you, he is accursed,” anathema, condemned to hell. You can see why Paul writes, I can't understand what the confusion is. God is clear. Why should the church be accepting this kind of teaching? Yet it goes on.

Paul is saying there are false teachers, they are condemned to hell. I don't care if it's an angel from heaven, they have altered the message and they will end up in hell. But his frustration is why are you following them? Why does error get ahold? Why is the truthfulness of the Gospel I preached under reconsideration? Why is my ministry being questioned? Over in Galatians 3, “You foolish Galatians. Who has bewitched you?” You've been put under a spell. I presented Jesus Christ clearly to you, the One who was crucified to pay the penalty for your sin. You were saved by believing that message. “Are you so foolish,” verse 3, “that now you are perfected by the physical things you do?” On it goes.

Come back to 2 Corinthians 12. Crucial issue. So Paul says in verse 12, even though he is not inferior to the most eminent of the apostles, I am a nobody. The power is in the Gospel of Jesus Christ, which is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes. The truth that God has revealed to me and I passed to you. You can't transfer authority to someone else or something else. Amazes me how quickly people will transfer authority to their church. My church teaches this, my church teaches that, we believe this. It is irrelevant. That won't get you to heaven unless they are teaching you the Gospel. Same here. So he says in verse 12, “The signs of a true apostle were performed among you with all perseverance.” We saw some of those signs in chapter 11. He suffered more than others did, he was beaten many times, suffered shipwreck, and on it goes. Those were all signs of a true apostle. Jesus told His followers in John 15, “if they hated Me they will hate you, if they reject My word they'll reject your word because it is My word through you.”.

So the signs of a true apostle were performed among you with all perseverance, endurance, and with all signs, wonders and miracles. I want to talk a little bit about a true apostle, just to remind you. Come over to Revelation 2 before we do. Revelation 2 Jesus Christ giving His final revelation. In chapters 2-3 He addresses messages to seven individual churches, commending them for certain things, condemning them for other things. In Revelation 2 He addresses the church at Ephesus, which is in Asia Minor. And He says in verse 2, “I know your deeds and your toil and perseverance, and that you cannot tolerate evil men,” and note this, “and you put to the test those who call themselves apostles and they are not and you found them to be false.” That's a commendation. That's what the church at Corinth should have done—sort it out. How? Measure it by the truth that has been revealed.

So back in 2 Corinthians 12 Paul talks about himself as an apostle. You know there is nothing new, the devil has always worked the same way. Start his own religion, make a variation of biblical Christianity, make a religion that has no connection to biblical Christianity. The devil is a very religious person, he desires the worship of all creation. This is in conflict with the true and living God. What did he tell Jesus in the temptation during Christ's earthly life? “If you will fall down and worship me, I will give you the kingdoms of the world.” Naturally, you will be under me. Jesus said “you shall worship only the living God,” to summarize it. The issue of the genuine apostle is tied to what is the truth.

There is movement today, ties into the flow of the charismatic movement and there is a more conservative side of the charismatic movement and the more extreme side. They are all wrong because they have a wrong view of gifts and so on, but the apostolic reformation. There is a movement now and there are books out on it, God has revived the gift of apostle. Here is one who writes on this. Back in the 1990s we began hearing the Holy Spirit speaking. Now you see he doesn't say we began to find in Scripture, but we have the Holy Spirit speaking directly to us. “We,” meaning we in this new movement which you see sort of elevates them because you only have the Scripture. But we heard the Holy Spirit. We began hearing the Holy Spirit speaking about restoring apostles and prophets as the foundation of the church as God originally designed. We'll come to that verse before we are done. It was God's intention to revive the gift of apostles and prophets, restore it.

Now this is key. Do you know what was characteristic of apostles and prophets? They received direct revelation from God. I gradually came to the realization that God had given me the gift of apostle. Well, La-de-dah. I came to that same conclusion. So do you know what that means? I don't need authority outside myself. God speaks to me and I speak to you. May be in the Bible, may not be. And certain spheres of the body of Christ were recognizing that I had the office of apostle. So do you know what he is now? He is the super apostle and he appoints other apostles. He has written a book that is all about different men who now are apostles and they have an authority beyond pastors and receive revelation from God. This has been the flaw at the foundation of the charismatic movement. They are getting direct revelation, which means Scripture is not complete. Now you have guys who are coming in and saying I have a message from God. There are certain channels that you can get on certain cable things that you can listen to these guys all the time. Are they true apostles?

First we have to lay the foundation of what an apostle is, this is review but we are going to review it. I'm going to be Peter, I will “stir up your pure minds by way of reminder.” Not that you have forgotten. What is an apostle in Scripture? Let's start at the beginning. An apostle is not someone who began hearing the Holy Spirit speaking in him, because anybody can say that. I can say the Holy Spirit spoke to me last night and He said, Gil, you are an apostle. That's good news. That's bad news because that's not the Holy Spirit speaking to me. It may be a spirit speaking to me, but you understand the devil masquerades as an angel of light.

I had opportunity thirty or thirty-five years ago to talk to this man, you are adrift, because then he was moving away from the foundation and he was moving into the subjective, unscriptural areas, and this is where you end up.

So what is an apostle in the Scripture? Well, number one, an apostle had to have seen Jesus Christ after His resurrection from the dead. So it's not enough you heard the voice that you said was the Spirit. Did Jesus Christ appear to you after His resurrection? If not, you cannot be an apostle. How do I know? Well, I'm an apostle, I'm telling you. No. We have to find it in Scripture, right? So we go to Acts 1. Peter is leading the discussion, they are looking to replace Judas. The twelve had become a distinct, separate group. And now that Judas has been shown to be a traitor and is dead, Peter says it is important that we replace him so the twelve are still the twelve. And it has to be someone who has accompanied us from the time that Christ began His public ministry. That was at the baptism of John, verse 22, until “He was taken up from us.” He must “become a witness with us of His resurrection.” This becomes key, the resurrection of Christ because that is the testimony that His death paid the penalty for sin. And this just can't be secondhand, he has to be a witness able to testify that Christ is alive, I have seen Him.

Come to Acts 10, I was going to go to Corinthians but we'll pick this up in Acts instead of coming back. Peter here comes for the first time to Gentiles. The church started in Acts 2 but it is Jewish. Now for the first time they are going to take the Gospel to Gentiles and we'll pick up as Peter is at the house of Cornelius that has been filled with friends of Cornelius, and they want to hear the Gospel from Peter. So he reviews the life of Christ and His ministry. Verse 39, “We are witness of all these things He did both in the land of the Jews and in Jerusalem. They also put Him to death by hanging Him on a cross. God raised Him up on the third day and granted He become visible, not to all the people but to witnesses who were chosen beforehand,” particularly “those of us who ate and drank with Him after He rose from the dead. And He ordered us to preach to the people and solemnly testify. This is the One who has been appointed by God as judge of the living and the dead. Of Him all the prophets bear witness that through His name everyone who believes in Him receives forgiveness of sins.” They had a specific message to proclaim. It is simple, if you add anything to it, if you take anything away from it you are on the road to an eternal hell. There is only way of salvation, there is only one message. If you believe in Christ plus your baptism, you are lost. For the Jew to believe in Christ plus circumcision, lost; in Christ plus the sacraments, lost; Christ plus whatever my church teaches, lost. It can't get any clearer.

We are eyewitnesses, that's number 1. Eyewitnesses.

Come over to 1 Corinthians 9, we were just here a little bit ago, read this passage but emphasized a different part. In 1 Corinthians 9:1, “Am I not an apostle?” Now note the next question, “Have I not seen Jesus our Lord?” That's one of the requirements of being an apostle, number 1. When did Paul see Christ? He wasn't a believer during Christ's earthly ministry, he doesn't get saved until Acts 9. But Christ appeared to him on the Damascus Road, so he was a unique case.

In fact turn over to 1 Corinthians 15. Paul is reviewing the Gospel that he preached and he said in verses 1-2, “This is the Gospel which I preached to you, it's the Gospel by which you were saved,” unless you didn't really believe it. Hearing it doesn't save you, hearing gives you the opportunity to be saved by believing the truth that you are hearing. Then he gives the Gospel. Verse 3, I'll just pick out the key points here. “Christ died for our sins;” verse 4, “He was buried, He was raised on the third day, He appeared.” He died for our sins, He was buried. The burial is evidence and proof that He died. He was raised on the third day and He appeared. His appearance is proof and evidence that He was raised from the dead. And He appeared to Cephas, who is Peter, the twelve, 500 brethren, James, all the apostles. “Last of all,” verse 8, “as to one untimely born He appeared to me also.” So Paul is unique in that the appearance of Christ to him was last, on a special occasion and Paul says I am the last one. He says the appearances to qualify an apostle have ended. He will appear to John to reveal the book of Revelation, but John is already an apostle. So the appearances after the resurrection, Paul says last of all He appeared to me. “And I am the least of the apostles, not fit to be called an apostle.” Paul says you can't get any more unworthy than me, I persecuted the church through the early part of its history, up until Acts 9. “But by the grace of God I am what I am” and I have poured my life into serving Him. It was God's grace at work in me.

So basically number 1, to be a biblical apostle you have to have seen Jesus Christ after His resurrection from the dead. And that is not happening today. There is no need for it.

Number 2, it was the apostles along with prophets that received direct revelation. That's the uniqueness of them, that's the danger of saying there are now new apostles as well as new prophets. That means the Bible is not complete, there is additional revelation. That cannot be.

Come to John 14, Jesus speaking to His disciples, His apostles. And in John 14 as He is preparing them. This is His last night before His crucifixion. And in John 14:26, He said in verse 25, “These things I have spoken to you while abiding with you,” but He has told them He is going to leave them. Verse 26, “But the Helper,” the Holy Spirit, the paraclete, the Holy Spirit, “whom the Father will send in My name, He will teach you all things and bring to your remembrance all that I said to you.” That tells you the uniqueness of these men. When the Holy Spirit comes, He is going to reveal things to them. Just like we saw in our study of Peter that in the Old Testament, holy men of God were moved by the Holy Spirit to record the Word of God. So that same Spirit now is going to teach them and bring to your remembrance all that I said to you. In these scholarly studies, they are all taken up with trying to explain the synoptic problem, Matthew, Mark and Luke. And they are so similar but they are different. And so what sources did they use and kind of critical methodology do we have to go through to figure out what came from where and what. I have the answer—it's right there at the end of verse 26, He told these men “the Holy Spirit will bring to your remembrance all that I said to you.” How could Matthew write Matthew? You know, time goes on, you forget things. Matthew is a long book, I'm sure he forgot things, and got things maybe confused. He could, but the Holy Spirit couldn't. So there is the answer, there is no synoptic problem. The Holy Spirit brought everything to their remembrance. Or He guided them, He would teach them all things. Let's not make it more complicated. Scholars have to do something to show how intelligent they are. We as believers can just be satisfied we are not that intelligent, so we take it at face value.

All right, go over to John 16:13, “But when He the Spirit of truth comes, He will guide you into all the truth.” And at the end of the verse, “He will disclose to you what is to come.” Now the Holy Spirit is our teacher also, but He is not revealing new truth to us, but He did through the apostles. The Apostle John is going to write the book of the Revelation of Jesus Christ, that concludes the written revelation of God. He's going to disclose things to come, new material.

Turn over to Galatians 1, Paul talks about the revelation received by him. After he had said in verse 8 that “even if an angel from heaven preaches different Gospel, he is accursed.” He says in verse 11 that “the Gospel which was preached to me is not according to man.” Now I didn't get it from man, it's not a message that has been drawn from men. “I didn't receive it from man, nor was I taught it, but I received it through a revelation of Jesus Christ.” Now Peter was already preaching the Gospel, he preached it on the Day of Pentecost in Acts 2 before Paul was ever saved in Acts 9, but as an apostle Paul received direct revelation. The Gospel was directly revealed to him, but it was not in any way contrary to what had been revealed to Peter or to John or others. But the point is Paul receives it because he is an apostle, so he receives direct revelation. And he receives additional material that will be complimentary.

Come over to 2 Peter 3:2, this verse I quoted at the beginning. “This is now, beloved,” verse 1, “the second letter I am writing to you in which I am stirring up your sincere mind by way of reminder, that you should remember the word spoken beforehand by the holy prophets and the commandment of the Lord and Savior spoken by your apostles.” Now you see there is a connection to the apostles. God is still revealing truth to the apostles as Peter writes. Come down to verse 15, “Regard the patience of our Lord as salvation.” Some people in this context were wondering, “why hasn't the Lord come yet?” Be patient, the Lord is patient, He is giving men and women opportunity to hear the Gospel and believe. “Regard the patience of our Lord as salvation just as our beloved brother, Paul, according to the wisdom given him, wrote to you, as also in all his letters speaking in them of these things, which are some things hard to understand,” now note this, “which the untaught and unstable distort as they do the rest of the Scriptures to their own destruction.” Remember what Paul wrote to the Galatians? Even if an angel from heaven teaches something contrary, they are doomed, their destruction. Here Peter identifies Paul's writings as Scripture. The unbelievers twist Paul's writings just as they do the rest of Scripture. So indicating that the Scriptures are the words of Christ given through His servants. The Old Testament was revealed and now the apostles are instruments to reveal new truth. But that's not truth being continually revealed.

We have between the Old and New Testaments as our Bible is divided, what we call the 400 silent years. Do you know why it is the 400 silent years? There were no prophets, there was no new revelation given during that time. Now with the coming of Christ there is new revelation, then that will come to an end.

The third point. First you had to have seen Christ after His resurrection from the dead, secondly new truth was revealed to the apostles, thirdly their teaching was validated by miraculous deeds. And that's what Paul says in 2 Corinthians 12, “the signs of a true apostle were performed among you with all perseverance by signs and wonders and miracles.” So in addition to everything else Paul had said about his endurance in chapter 11, signs, wonder and miracles accompanied his ministry. He's the one who taught the Corinthians about the valid use of spiritual gifts and they had been communicated to them by him.

Come to Acts 5, just a history of the church. Some people want to claim God is still revealing new truth, He is still doing the same thing He did in the book of Acts, He is doing miracles, He is performing wonders. In Acts 5, you know sometimes they don't have an accurate view of what Acts says. Verse 12, this is after Ananias and Sapphira are struck dead for lying to the Holy Spirit. And just as at the beginning of Israel's history when they are formed as a nation, they come out of the land of Egypt. They went down into Egypt as just a family, they come out as a nation and then they are given the Law which will be, if you will, the constitution that governs the nation. And as part of that whole process there are miracles being done. We think of the plagues on Egypt, then there will be things that happen. Korah will rebel against Moses in the book of Numbers and the ground will open up and swallow him. And certain things like that done. But that just doesn't go on in that kind of way continually. God can still do miracles down to today, but the gift of miracles and the way it is done in the New Testament . . .

Look at Acts 5:12, “At the hands of the apostles many signs and wonders were taking place among the people.” This was to establish their authority and the truth of what they taught. So verse 13, “None of the rest dared to associate with them, however the people held them in high esteem.” This was to cut them off, don't want there to be confusion. God is saying these are My appointed representatives and I am validating them because they do some of the same miracles that Christ did when He was on earth. That establishes now that Christ is in heaven they are representing Him and bringing you the new truth.

Turn over to Romans 15. Paul said his ministry was accompanied by miracles. In Romans 15:18, “For I will not presume to speak of anything except what Christ has accomplished through me.” And he is he said in the previous verses, a minister of Christ Jesus bringing the Gospel to the Gentiles. “For I will not,” verse 18, “presume to speak of anything except what Christ has accomplished through me, resulting in the obedience of the Gentiles by word and deed, in the power of signs and wonders, in the power of the Spirit. From Jerusalem and as far as Illyricum I have fully preached the Gospel of Christ” and I am not done. So you see he is bringing the Gospel, this is a new message. The clarity of it is not given in the Old Testament, the fullness of it. There is new material here.

One more passage on this and then a second passage and we will be done. Hebrews 2, along the same line of what we've seen in other writings. There is no escape for you, for me if we neglect the salvation provided in Jesus Christ. Hebrews 2:3, “How will we escape if we neglect so great a salvation? After it was at the first spoken through the Lord, it was confirmed to us by those who heard,” that got it from the Lord, from Christ. “God also testifying with them both by signs and wonders and by various miracles, by gifts of the Holy Spirit according to His own will.” That validated the message that was given to them, that was a key point of the miracles. It wasn't just to give proof to people who didn't want to believe, the Word of God is not enough for me. You'll have to do something. Now that we have the completed Word of God we don't need miracles. It's like Jesus said, “if they don't believe Moses and the prophets, they won't believe if one is raised from the dead.” It's not an absence of miracles, miracles confirmed additional truth. Miracles don't make the difference between believing and unbelieving. Those who don't believe, who hear the message and don't believe, they have just decided it is not for them. I don't need to humble myself before God and acknowledge my sin and place my faith in Him.

So those three things are necessary for an apostle—had to see Christ after His resurrection from the dead; they were entrusted with God's truth, new revelation; their ministry was validated by the miraculous signs, signs, wonder and miracles.

Go to Ephesians 2, and there is a verse here misused in this article, writing by Peter Wagner. “I gradually came to the realization that God had given me the gift of apostle and that certain spheres of the body were recognizing that I had the gift of apostle.” And this is in the context, these were being restored as the foundation of the church as God originally designed. And he quotes Ephesians 2:20. But that's a misuse of Ephesians 2:20. Verse 19, he says of believers now, Gentiles as well as Jews, “are fellow citizens with the saints, are of God's household.” We become God's family through faith in Christ. “Having been built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Christ Jesus Himself being the cornerstone.” The foundation has been laid. In 1 Corinthians 3 Paul said there is no other foundation that can be laid except the one that He has laid, the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Doesn't say we now have new apostles and prophets so we continue to lay the foundation. The foundation is laid, we have the record, the Gospel is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes. That's it. If you do believe, then you will be incorporated into Christ. And in Ephesians 2 there are two pictures here—God's household or God's family and God's building. You become one of God's children; another, you become another part of the temple God is building for Himself. Verse 22, “In whom you are being built together into a dwelling of God.” We become part with others. We don't need another foundation, we don't need a new message, we don't need a different message.

The tragedy of it is multiplied billions of people are ignorant of the message. Faith comes by hearing and hearing by the message of Christ. First thing we have to do is bring them the message of Christ. That gives them opportunity. But sadly many people will hear the message of Christ and not believe it and if they don't believe it they will go out into eternity without hope, lost for eternity. You say that's so narrow. Depends on how you look at it. It is narrow but it is so wide it will include anyone and everyone who will turn from their sin and place their faith in Christ.

These are serious matters, we should not be confused, we must not be confused. We must be discerning, we must be careful. This church is not the authority, the church fathers from a bygone era are not the authority. The Word of God is the authority. Heaven and earth will pass away, this Word will not.

Let's pray together. Thank You, Lord, for Your grace, grace in revealing Yourself, making Yourself known, grace having Your Son come to this sin-cursed earth to die and pay the penalty for sin. You raised Him in victory, declaring to all that the payment for sin had been paid in full. Now in Your grace You have given us a completed revelation written that we might read it, hear it and Lord, submit to it, be humble before You, acknowledge our sin and our guilt and place our faith in Christ and Him alone. Lord, a marvelous transformation takes place, our sins are washed away, we are made whiter than snow, we become Your children, we are Yours for time and eternity. We give You praise. In Christ's name, amen.