Chapter 1

Are Diversities of Tongues and Gifts of Healing in Use To-day?

IT is perfectly clear from the New Testament that these miraculous gifts were in operation in the primitive Church (Acts 2. 4-11; 1 Cor. 12. 28-30; 14. 1-28). There is no real evidence that they were in existence during the centuries that succeeded apostolic times. Within recent years there has been an alleged renewal of these gifts. The writer of the present article seeks to show that these gifts ceased in New Testament days, and that though they will be renewed this will not occur until the Church has been translated to Heaven.
 

The Old Testament prophets spoke at great length about the Future Millennium, or the reign of the Lord Jesus Christ for one thousand years over this earth; that glorious era for Israel when they shall be the central nation on earth, and during which God's Messiah shall reign over them. All the temporal disabilities accruing to man in consequence of sin shall then practically disappear. Sorrow shall give place to joy, the earth shall produce bountifully, disease and sickness shall be virtually cured, and death shall be held in abeyance, except for rebellion against the King (Isa. 25. 8; 33. 24; 35. 1,2, 10; 65.20). " Tongues are for a sign" (1 Cor. 14.22), and the passage quoted by the apostle, which caused him to make this statement, refers to Israel in those future days that immediately precede the setting up of the Millennial Kingdom (Isa. 28. 11, 12), during which the peoples shall speak a pure language (Zeph. 3. 9, R.V.), or, in other words, the confusion of speech that God caused at the tower of Babel (Gen. 11. 6-9) shall come to an end, and there shall no longer be any necessity for speaking other tongues. Consequently these miraculous sign-gifts (Mark 16. 17, 18) obviously point to that Kingdom.

Matthew in his Gospel presents Christ as the Son of David, the King. John the Baptist announced the approach of the Kingdom and heralded the King's advent (chap. 3. 1-3). Then Christ, the King, Appeared, and enunciated the laws of His Kingdom in the Sermon on the Mount. After that He displayed His character and power by His miracles, defeating Satan, conquering death, causing disease to disappear at His word, feeding the multitudes, and controlling the elements. John the Baptist sent from his prison two of his disciples to ask Him, "Art Thou He that should come, or look we for another?" i.e., "Art Thou our long-desired Messiah?" The Lord answered, "Go and show John again those things which ye do hear and see; the blind receive their sight, and the lame walk, the lepers are cleansed, and the deaf hear, the dead are raised up, and the poor have the Gospel preached to them. And blessed is he whosoever shall not be ashamed in Me" (chap. 11. 2-6). He thus declared His miracles to be His credentials as the Messiah.
Again, at a later date, when our Lord healed a blind and dumb demoniac, the Jewish multitudes were amazed, and said, "Is not this the Son of David? "i.e. "Is He not the Messiah ?"

They arrived at that correct conclusion from the miracle. The Pharisees, refusing to accept Him as the Messiah, sought to account for the miracle in another way. Our Lord refuted their charge, and said to them, "If I cast out demons by the Spirit of God, then the Kingdom of God is come unto you" (chap. 12. 22-28). In other words, the miracle pointed Him out as the King, and declared that the Kingdom had drawn near. The miracles of Christ showed that He had overcome Satan, the strong one, and had taken from him his armour, and was dividing his spoils, and, therefore, that the usurper was going to be deposed and the rightful King enthroned.
 

"Himself took our infirmities, and bare, our sicknesses," is only found in this Gospel (chap. 8. 17). This is strictly in keeping with its view of our Lord, because it is a quotation from Isaiah's prophecy (chap. 53.4), and will be Israel's language when they recognise the crucified Jesus in their heavenly Deliverer.
The Lord sent forth His disciples to preach and heal (chap. 10. 1-23), and to declare in the cities that the Kingdom had come nigh unto them (Luke 10.9-11).
But, notwithstanding that His miracles clearly accredited Him as their Messiah, the Jews despised and rejected Him. They said, "We will not have this Man to reign over us," and they put Him to death.
The Lord Jesus, having been raised from the dead, who were all Jews, to disciple, baptise, and teach (chap. 28. 18-20). This commission covers more than the present Church dispensation, or that period of time during which the Church is gathered out from all the nations, completed and taken to its home, Heaven, for it lasts until the present age of Gentile domination and Jewish subjection terminate by the return of Christ to enter on His Millennial reign. We read about miraculous signs in connection with this commission (Mark 16. 15-20). Those sign-gifts were en evidence from the day of Pentecost immediately following His resurrection (Acts 2. 4-11) for a number of years when they ceased, as we shall presently see, and they will be en evidence again after the rapture of the Church and before the age ends (Joel 2. 28-32; Rev. 11. 3-6). Those disciples, in carrying out their commission, offered to the Jews in Jerusalem the risen Lord Jesus as their Messiah and Saviour (Acts 3. 19-21). This offer lasted at least until Stephen was murdered, and, though it may have been withdrawn then, Israel still had preferential treatment, wherever the Gospel was carried, up to the time of Paul's imprisonment in Rome (Acts 3. 26; 13. 26, 46; 18. 4-6; Rom. 1. 16). Then Paul definitely separated himself from the Jews, and they were placed on a par with the Gentiles (Acts 28. 17-28, R.V.),* and this will continue until the Church be completed and taken to Heaven. God, who sees the end from the beginning, knew that the nation of Israel would not accept the Lord Jesus as their Messiah, and He consequently commenced at Pentecost

At Pentecost the disciples knew none of the special truth about the Church, but, after the murder of Stephen, God revealed His Son to His chosen vessel, Saul of Tarsus, afterwards Paul the apostle, and through him, while the favoured nation position was still accorded to Israel, He gradually unfolded the truth about the Church, but not in its fullness until the preferential treatment of Israel ended (Acts 28. 28), for it is in Ephesians and Colossians, written at a later date, that we find the highest Church truth. The miraculous signs lasted until then (see Acts 28. 3-10), for they were given in connection with the presentation of the Messiah to Israel, and they will be renewed after the rapture of the Church, for God will then renew His special dealings with Israel, and in due course the Millennial Kingdom will be established, to which all such miracles point, and during which disease and death will to all intents and purposes be shelved and a pure language be spoken by the peoples.
There is no Scriptural evidence of any miraculous sign after the special treatment of Israel ceased.
 

The Last Mention of Tongues
is in 1 Corinthians 14, which Paul wrote when he was in Ephesus. His sojourn in that city is recorded in Acts 19. Therefore the first epistle to the Corinthians was written several years before Israel was placed on a level with the Gentiles. After Israel lost the favoured-nation position, Epaphroditus, Timothy, Trophimus, and Gaius, all of them devoted servants of the Lord, were taken ill (Phil. 2. 25-30; 1 Tim. 5. 23; 2 Tim. 4. 20; 3 John 2), but no gift of healing was used to restore them. It has been suggested that sign-gifts were not used to heal sick believers, and,

therefore, the fact that these tour were not restored to health through them does not prove the cessation of these gifts. However, Scripture teaches that believers were miraculously healed in body and restored to life. When our Lord was on earth He repeatedly healed those who had faith in Him, e .g., BARTIMAEUS and the woman with the issue of blood (Mark 10. 52; Luke 8. 48). He also raised LAZARUS, whom He loved, from the dead (John 11. 43, 44). After His resurrection His disciples continued His work, for they wrought their miracles in His Name (Mark 16. 17, 18; Acts 3. 6, 16; 4. 7-12, 30; 9. 34). PAUL received his sight three days after his conversion; DORCAS was raised from the dead; the cripple at LYSTRA was healed (Acts 9. 18, 36-41; 14. 8-10). Consequently we are warranted in concluding that these gifts had ceased to be in operation ere Epaphroditus and the others named above were taken ill.

TWO LISTS OF GIFTS.
There are two lists of gifts. One was given while these sign-gifts were in existence, and in it they are distinctly mentioned (1 Cor. 12. 28). The other, written after Israel had ceased to have special treatment, contains none of them (Eph. 4. 11-16). Also, since the gifts named in it are spoken of as permanent (vv. 12, 13), we are right in concluding that those omitted were not. *
* Strictly speaking these sign-gifts were not Church gifts ; they were given in connection with the Kingdom, and were only in the Church in its initial stage, because of its position in time's chart.
16 Sign-Gifts Ended.
From these considerations it is clear:
1. That these sign-gifts were given in connection with a commission that lasts until the Messianic Kingdom be set up.
2. That the possession of them enabled disciples of the Lord Jesus to perform in His Name miracles similar to those that He had accomplished in His lifetime, and which had accredited Him as the Messiah.
3. That these gifts were in operation as long as God dealt with Israel in a special way.
4. That they ceased when Israel was placed on a level with the other nations.
5. And that, though they will be renewed and continued down to the establishment of the Kingdom, this renewal will not take place until Israel shall be again placed in the favoured-nation position, which, however, cannot take place until the present dispensation of grace terminate by the rapture of the Church to be for ever with the Lord.
It is well to remember that
New Testament Miracles
were very different from those that are said to take place to-day. The former were obvious to all present, and none questioned their genuineness. The latter are so unsupported by evidence that no one believes in their bona fides except the workers and their adherents. The former, therefore, were true signs, the latter are not.


17
Is there Healing To-day?
God said to Israel at Marah: "If thou wilt diligently hearken to the voice of the Lord thy God, and wilt do that which is right in His sight, and wilt give ear to His commandments, and keep all His statutes, I will put none of these diseases upon thee, which I have brought upon the Egyptians: for I am the Lord that healeth thee" (Exod. 15. 26).
Do they Apply To-day?
It has been claimed that this promise applies equally to believers in this dispensation, but this is not so. Israel in the wilderness was a type of the Church under present circumstances (1 Cor. 10. 11). Israel's blessings were earthly, material, and temporal. The Church's are heavenly, spiritual, and eternal. Consequently just as Egypt is a type of the world, and Pharaoh its ruler, a type of Satan, the prince of the world, so the promise to Israel of preservation from the diseases of the Egyptians on their fulfilment of certain conditions typifies our preservation from spiritual diseases upon our carrying out God's wishes. The manna that fed their bodies was a type of Christ, the food for our souls (John 6. 32-35, 48-58). Their clothing lasted throughout the journey to Canaan (Deut. 8. 4), so shall our spiritual raiment until we reach our heavenly destination. If it be correct for me to expect immunity from physical diseases, then I should also expect my food to come down daily from Heaven, as the manna did, and my clothes to last until I take my departure from earth.
B
18 The Elders and Anointing.
ANOINTING WITH OIL.
"Is any among you afflicted? let him pray. Is any merry ? let him sing psalms. Is any sick among you? let him call for the elders of the Church; and let them pray over him, anointing him with oil in the Name of the Lord: and the prayer of faith shall save the sick, and the Lord shall raise him up; and if he have committed sins, they shall be forgiven him. Confess your faults one to another, and pray one for another, that ye may be healed. The effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much" (James 5. 13-16). It would not be desirable to conclude this article without a few
Remarks on this Passage.
1. James wrote his epistle to the twelve tribes; it is not addressed to the Church (chap .1.1).
2. He wrote it some years before the preferential treatment of Israel terminated, and, therefore, while the sign-gifts were still in operation.
3. The use of oil was possibly medicinal treatment or the use of means, the very same expression being used in the Greek text as is used by other Greek writers when directing the use of oil for the benefit of the body.
4. The apostle gives the best possible advice, i.e., bring your sickness before God. There is no limit to His power. He can heal either through means or apart from them.
5. The passage neither condemns nor does away with means. The sad man was directed to pray,


19
Faith and Means.
the happy one to sing, and the sick one to have his case committed to God. This was the thing to do in each case—the imperative thing; but just as the sad and happy persons were surely not limited to praying and singing, so the sick one was not forbidden the use of means in addition to having his case put into the hands of God.
Hezekiah Healed.
God heard Hezekiah's prayer when he was sick unto death. He graciously healed him, but He employed means; a plaster of figs was laid on the boil (Isa. 38. 1-5, 21). Timothy was directed to use means (1 Tim. 5. 23). Epaphroditus was sick and nigh unto death for the work of Christ. But God had mercy on His servant, and restored him to health. God can and does work miracles to-day. He can completely cure those whom the most eminent physicians despair of, but no believer has the gift of healing now.