Spiritual Gifts
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prepare a people for the first advent of Christ, how much more so for
the second; especially, since the last days were to be perilous beyond
all precedent, and false prophets were to have power to show great
signs and wonders, insomuch that, if it were possible, they should
deceive the very elect! But to the Scriptures of truth.
And he said unto them, Go ye into all the world, and preach the
Gospel to every creature. He that believeth, and is baptized, shall be
saved; but he that believeth not shall be damned. And these signs shall
follow them that believe: in my name shall they cast out devils; they
shall speak with new tongues; they shall take up serpents; and if they
drink any deadly thing, it shall not hurt them; they shall lay hands on
the sick, and they shall recover.
Mark 16:15-18
.
Says Campbell’s translation, “These miraculous powers shall at-
tend the believers.” The gifts were not confined
to the apostles, but
[7]
extended to the believers. Who will have them? Those that believe.
How long? There is no limitation; the promise seems to run parallel
with the great commission to preach the gospel, and to reach the last
believer.
But it is objected that the promised aid was only to the apostles,
and to those who believed through their preaching: that they fulfilled
the commission, established the gospel, and that the gifts ceased with
that generation. Let us see if the great commission ended with that
generation.
Matthew 28:19, 20
. Go ye, therefore, and teach all nations,
baptizing them in the name of the father, and of the son, and of the
Holy Ghost; teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have
commanded you; and lo, I am with you alway, even to the end of the
world.
That the preaching of the Gospel under this commission did not end
with the primitive church is evident from the promise, “I am with you
alway, even to the end of the world.” He does not say, I am with you,
apostles, everywhere, even to the ends of the earth; but it is always, to
the end of the world, or age. It will not do to say that the Jewish age
is meant, for that had already ended at the cross. I conclude then that
the preaching and the belief of the primitive Gospel will be attended
with the same spiritual aid. The apostles’ commission belonged to the
Christian age, and embraced the whole of it. Consequently the gifts
were only lost through apostasy, and will be revived with the revival
of primitive faith and practice.