The sermon titled 'Wonders and Signs' by Trent Moody explores the topic of signs and wonders as described in Acts chapter 2. Moody emphasizes that signs and wonders were a result of the Holy Spirit's presence in the early church and served the purpose of validating the Word of God. He clarifies his beliefs about the Holy Spirit, spiritual gifts, and the temporary nature of certain gifts. Moody cautions against seeking signs instead of the substance of faith and emphasizes the sufficiency of the Word of God. He also discusses the role of apostles and prophets in performing signs and wonders and highlights the importance of discernment in evaluating claims of signs and wonders. The sermon concludes with an exhortation to love one another as a powerful sign to the world.

Good to see everyone this morning. If you will please turn in your Bibles to the book of Acts chapter two. And we are gonna be focusing mainly on Acts chapter two and verse 43, but for context, I would like to pick up in verse 40. And we know here that this is after receiving the promise of the Father, the Holy Spirit of God had come upon this church, this young church and this group of believers. And what took place as a result of that was truly miraculous and astounding.

Let's look in verse 40 in Acts chapter 2. Thus says the word of the Lord, and with many other words he testified and exhorted them saying be saved from this perverse generation then those who gladly received his word were baptized and that day about 3,000 souls were added to them, and they continued steadfastly in the apostles' doctrine and fellowship, in the breaking of bread and in prayers. Then fear came upon every soul, and many wonders and signs were done through the apostles. Now all who believed were together and had all things in common, and sold their possessions and goods and divided them among all as anyone had need. So continuing daily with one accord in the temple and breaking bread from house to house, they ate their food with gladness and simplicity of heart, praising God and having favor with all the people, and the Lord added to the church daily those who were being saved." And again verse 43, then fear came upon every soul and many wonders and signs were done through the Apostles.

Let's pray. Our gracious Heavenly Father we thank you that we can come to you often with prayers and lifting up our hearts and our requests to you who hear us. Lord we thank you for the word of God these ancient words ever true and Lord I pray that they would be changing me and changing this congregation to be conformed into the image of your son. And Father, today as we look into these words and look into really in all of your word, we pray that you would give us wisdom. Lord, that the spirit of humility would be upon all of us and Lord a heart's desire to know your truth and so father we pray that your Holy Spirit would guide us and teach us today and we ask it in Jesus name.

Amen. You may be seated. So as long promised we are now embarking on this subject matter of signs and wonders that we see here in Acts 2 43. This is not the first time that we've seen this terminology of wonders and signs. We've seen it from the very beginning of the Bible, throughout the scriptures and different time periods, and now into the gospels we see that Jesus and the disciples worked wonders and signs and miracles and Jesus was raising the dead and causing blind eyes to see He was feeding thousands of people with but meager means or amounts of food and now even into the book of Acts into the time of the apostles and we see that right after the coming this promise coming of the Holy Spirit that was promised over in Acts chapter 1 and in verse 4 he says and being assembled together with them he commanded them not to depart from Jerusalem, but to wait for the promise of the Father.

This promise of the Father was the promise of the Holy Spirit, the third person of the Trinity, and he came in mighty power. He came as it was as a rushing mighty wind and there were we know cloven tongues that rested upon them and great and mighty works were done by the Apostles and the early church. And I just confess to you as I've been meditating upon this and as I've been thinking about what to say that would be helpful for us, that would instruct us in our day and age in understanding the Word of God to help us to be that mature man that God has called us to be and that we would be edified and sanctified through the Word of God by the Holy Spirit. This topic has really been a daunting task and one that I've wrestled with in regards in the direction that I believe that I wanted to take you all, that the Lord would have me take you all in understanding what God's Word is teaching us about this. Mainly because there are so many aspects and so many angles by which we could study this topic of wonders and signs and I'm going to throw in that miracles, I'm going to throw in that the sign gifts of the Holy Spirit.

It's just broad and it's multifaceted And so we will see throughout the book of Acts this subject again. So don't think you're gonna get the whole thing today. It's just not possible that I could rightly explain this whole subject in this amount of time. This congregation here has been in my thoughts and prayers as I've been studying this and approaching this subject because I know, because I've spoken with you and I know many of you very well that each of us have come from different backgrounds and that likely each of us we would find if we did a survey that we would probably span almost the entire spectrum of our views upon this subject of wonders and signs and even getting into the sign gifts of the Holy Spirit. So I want to be very careful.

I want to lay some groundwork before we jump into the text and tell you some things that I believe and then tell you why I believe them based upon the Word of God. So thinking about this in our broad spectrum of understanding and beliefs that we have within this church. I want to begin this message with some clarifying statements and if you hear something in this message that makes you think that I do not believe that the Holy Spirit is not active and working in the life of the church today, then either I have miscommunicated or you have misunderstood and gotten what I'm saying wrong. So I'm going to lay some things out for you. Anytime a man stands before a congregation there is a danger of misunderstanding and a danger of miscommunication and I pray that neither of those things happen today.

So may God grant us much grace in this and help us to understand what his word is saying. I have prayed that the Holy Spirit would make all things clear. So that's my prayer. Number one, I have about five or six, or let's see, seven things, eight things, I wanna say first of what I believe so that we're not misunderstood. Number one, I 100% believe that the Holy Spirit is the third person of the Trinity and as such is God.

He is alive and active in the life of every believer. He is the promise of the Father as I preached in Acts chapter 1 and will continue to preach throughout the rest of the book of Acts. Number two, I believe that the Holy Spirit does give gifts to His people for the edification of the entire body. 1 Corinthians 12-7 says that also. In 1 Corinthians 12-11, the Bible says this, but one and the same Spirit works all these things, distributing to each one individually as he wills and in verse 18 but now God has set the members each one of them in the body just as he pleases.

I believe that. Number three, I believe that some of those gifts were temporary, specifically miracles, healing, tongues, and prophecy, and I say that with a caveat and we'll explain that as we go. Number four, I do believe that God does miracles and that God does heal. I do not hold the view that certain individuals have those gifts today as in being a spiritual gift that a individual has that he can go and heal someone. The greatest miracle of all is this, that God can take a dead condemned sinner and make him a living justified saint.

That's the greatest miracle in the world and has happened to every believer. That's a miracle. Number five, I believe that God still physically heals and relieves the sick and rescues believers from their sicknesses, their tribulations, and also at times according to his good pleasure, he leaves others in their sickness and tribulations for their good to bring about repentance, humility, increase of faith, and reliance upon God's grace to know that his grace is sufficient in any trial. I believe that. Number six, I do believe that those who hold a different view than me can be true believers and truly love the Lord Jesus Christ.

That's my stance. Number, let's see, number seven, I believe that the Holy Spirit convicts the world of sin and righteousness and the judgment to come and that he is given as the helper to believers to help us along the way. Number eight, I believe that there are basically three main time periods of signs and wonders and miracles. And number one, that would be the time of Moses and Joshua in that time period. Number two, the time of Elijah and Elisha, and then number three, in the times of Jesus and the apostles.

And we see that throughout the scriptures. Sometimes it's difficult for us when we read the Bible, it seems like every page is full of it, but when you look at history, these are specific times and periods when God did wonderful miraculous things to bring about and to validate the word of God. So here's my concern and really the motivation and the push behind this time of looking at wonders and signs. As is often the case among the human race, we too often seek after the things that will do us the least amount of good for our souls. Can we acknowledge that?

We too often spend that time on that which does the least amount of good for our souls and neglect those things that will do the most good for our souls. Our sinful nature seeks so often the gift over the giver. We too often seek signs instead of the substance and we are enthralled with the extraordinary and tempted to get bored with the normal means of grace. It's my great desire this morning to call us to that which will do the most spiritual good in our lives and so one of my concerns in preaching on signs and wonders is the danger of minimizing the work and power of the Holy Spirit. I do not want to do that.

I believe that there is an erroneous ditch on both sides of this subject and I do not want to fall into either one of them. So if you will think of this subject as a spectrum, let's say there's six of them, I don't know how many but we might could find within this group and we could categorize about six different places that people could be on this subject. And I believe on each side of this thing is an extreme view. The one is what I would call charismania, if you will. And it is that which minimizes the Lord Jesus Christ and he is either forgotten altogether in pursuits of everything miraculous and extra biblical, which I believe makes a mockery of the church of the Lord Jesus Christ.

It does not cause the fear in those who witness it, like we see in the New Testament here even in Acts 2.43, then fear came upon every soul. But instead this extreme view I believe causes people to make a mockery of the church of the Lord Jesus Christ and of the bride of Christ. The other extreme though is a cold dead formalism where the Holy Spirit is to believe is believed to be on sabbatical. He's not among us, he's over somewhere else. Both of these views I wholeheartedly reject and I do not even believe them to be true Christianity at all.

So this morning, I'm fully aware of my limitations, and by the end of this, you will be too. In no way do I expect to answer every question that surrounds this subject. I fully expect many questions to be asked of myself and Scott at the end of this. People have argued about this subject for millennia, and I will not answer all of those questions this morning. I do not want to vilify or create straw man arguments against those who would disagree.

I love those who disagree with me. They help me actually. I also do not want to, I do not believe that anyone who is a continuationist is lost. However some surely are and some cessationists are as well. Those on either extreme, Again, I categorically reject.

I do believe that some in the extreme camps should be labeled as this, false teachers and false prophets. So my hope this morning is this, Ephesians chapter four and verse 11 through 16. And he himself gave some to be apostles and prophets, some evangelists and some pastors and teachers, for the equipping of the saints, for the work of the ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ, till we all come to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to a perfect man, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ, that we should be no longer children tossed to and fro and carried about with every wind of doctrine by the trickery of men, in the cunning craftiness of deceitful plotting, but speaking the truth in love may grow up in all things into him who is the head, Christ, from whom the whole body joined and knit together by what every joint supplies according to the effective working by which every part does its share causes growth of the body for the edifying of itself in love." That's my aim this morning. And so thus far I've told you what I believe, however I do not expect you to believe it just because I believe it.

So I want to show you from the Word of God why I believe it and am convinced and I want you to be convinced in your mind regarding what the Bible teaches about wonders and signs, and like I said, we'll throw in miracles and the sign gifts, if you will. So I'm not gonna be able to reference every passage in the scripture so I'm going to do my best. My goal is to be fair and balanced as a fallible man can be and I will do my utmost to stay chained to the Word of God. So let's begin. What are signs and wonders?

Again, Acts 2 43, then fear came upon every soul and many wonders and signs were done through the Apostles. So we have here some of the most helpful information that the coming of the Holy Spirit was so transformational that the people's lives were transformed in correlation to the transformation of their soul. It wasn't just a soul work that had no outward benefit or no outward effect, it was actually something that was so radically transformational in their lives, in their souls, that their lives were just as much radically transformed and the people saw it. It wasn't something done in a hidden place, but it was something that was seen that caused fear among every soul. Here's the thing, it was not only the wonders and signs that caused the fear.

In fact, he mentions this before end, then fear came upon every soul and many signs and wonder or wonders and signs were done. It was actually part of both of these things I believe that caused people to be fearful. They were seeing something in a group of people that so radically transformed their lives that they didn't know what was happening. And that really is my desire. I want to live such a life before the Lord that it actually causes fear among others to think what's going on.

This is something so different that I've never seen before. That would be a desire of my heart. So this life transformation was accompanied by signs and wonders and it produced this fear among everyone that witnessed it. So let's just go into some definitions here of what are signs and wonders. We'll start with wonders.

What are wonders and signs? And the word wonder here, and just a somewhat brief definition of this, is a miraculous wonder done to elicit a reaction from onlookers. It was an extraordinary event with its supernatural effect that left all who witnessed it to stand in wonder and awe. It was supernatural and therefore caused the people to recognize that something unusual was happening. In fact, if it was usual or normal, it wouldn't cause fear and awe and wonder.

So by the fact of the unusual nature of this, is what calls the wonder. It is accordingly something so strange as to cause it to be watched or observed. It calls people to stop what they're doing and look at this thing. That's what took place. These two words wonders and signs do not refer to two different classes of miracles but to two different qualities of the same.

Does that make sense? It's not two different things that were happening here. It was one thing but it was a quality difference of wonders and signs. One was as the wonder it causes you to stop and look what in the world is going on. And then the sign was this.

A sign is given especially to confirm, and to authenticate, or to validate, and it emphasized the end purpose which exalts the one giving it, thus God. Accordingly it is used dozens of times in the New Testament for that which authenticates the Lord and his eternal purpose, especially by doing what mere men cannot do. It was a sign so that you would say what should we learn from this? In Acts 3 12 and 13 the Bible says so when Peter saw it he responded to the people because this is right after he healed the lame man we'll be getting there in a few weeks he says men of Israel why do you marvel at this why or why look so intently at us as though by our own power or godliness, we made this man walk. Why do you give us the credit is what Peter's saying.

Why are you marveling at us? The God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, the God of our fathers, glorified his servant, Jesus, whom you delivered up and denied in the presence of Pilate when he was determined to let him go. So here we have this example of Peter pushing the outward wonder or this marvel that the people had and pointing them to the one who did it, not me. It wasn't me from my power, it wasn't me from my godliness, Peter says. It was God who did it.

And that's the way they should always be. When anytime there's a true wonder or sign, It's pointing to God. It is a miracle with an ethical end and purpose. They are valuable not so much for what they are in and of themselves as for what they indicate of the grace and the power of God. This immediate connection that this is not of human nature.

God did it. So a sign, again, is an unusual occurrence transcending the common course of nature. It breaks the rules of science if you will. It's not possible for this to happen. So as we consider this some of the natural questions that comes to my mind is what's the purpose?

What's the purpose or and or the response of wonders and signs? Like what happens? Like why does God do these things? And it's a little surprising. Some of them you'll recognize right off, and others seem a little out of place.

And there may be more than what I'm gonna list here, but it's interesting. So first, under this purpose or response, if I'm gonna put those two things together, purpose or response of the wonders and signs, First is this, is to validate the Word of God which is being preached. It is to show forth that this man is speaking not his own words, he's speaking God's Word. So miracles and wonders and signs are used by God for this authenticating purpose that the men sent by him are speaking God's word. It is proving them and their calls to be the calls of God.

So one of the most clear passages that we see about this is Acts 14 verse 3. Therefore they stayed there a long time, speaking boldly in the Lord. And listen, who was bearing witness to the word of his grace, How? Granting signs and wonders to be done by their hands. That is crystal clear.

I'll read it again. This is Acts 14.3 if you want to make that note. And the last or the middle part of that, who was bearing witness to the word of his grace, granting signs and wonders to be done by their hands. Also in Acts 2 22, men of Israel hear these words, Jesus of Nazareth, a man attested by God to you by miracles wonders and signs which God did through him in your midst as you yourselves also know even the Lord Jesus Christ himself was not doing miracles for miracles sake he was actually it was attesting by God to say this is my son. In Mark 16 20 and they went out and preached everywhere and the Lord working with them and confirming the word through the accompanying signs.

Amen." Mark 16 20. Hebrews 2, 1-4, which was read this morning says this, Therefore we must give the most earnest heed to the things which we've heard Lest we drift away for if the word spoken through angels prove steadfast and every Transgression and disobedience received a just reward How shall we escape if we neglect so great a salvation? Which at the first began to be spoken by the Lord and was confirmed to us By those who heard it or excuse me by those who heard him God also bearing witness both with signs and wonders with various miracles and gifts of the Holy Spirit according to his will." So in this passage we are told that this authentication that God was making sure that we understood that his stamp of approval was upon those who were bearing witness of what he had said. That the apostles and the prophets and a few others as we'll see were actually being approved. It was his stamp of approval.

I'm validating what they're saying. That's what not I said, that's what God's Word says. He says it in Acts 14 3, he says it in Acts 2 22, he says it in Mark 16 20 he says it in Hebrews 2 1 through 4 and there are other places that would confirm this as well but I can't continue on just quoting these scriptures because we have more to look at I want to broaden this a little bit Matthew Henry says this he says the power he gave them to work miracles for the confirmation of their doctrine when he sent them to preach the same doctrine that he had preached. He empowered them to confirm it by the same divine seals which could never be set to a lie. This is not necessary now the kingdom of God has come.

To call for miracles now is to lay again the foundation when the building is reared. The point being settled and the doctrine of Christ sufficiently attested by the miracles which Christ and his Apostles wrought, it is tempting God to ask for more signs," Matthew Henry says. What more do we need to prove to us and to the world that Jesus Christ is the Son of God who came into this world to save sinners. Perhaps if one was to raise from the dead. In Luke 16 and verses 27-31 you know this passage well.

This is the story of the rich man and Lazarus and Jesus says this then he said I beg you therefore father this is the rich man in hell Jesus is saying this but he's quoting this man that is in hell I beg you therefore father that you would send him to my father's house for I have five brothers that he may testify to them lest they also come to this place of torment. And Abraham said something he said this, they have Moses and the prophets, let them hear them. And he said no, father Abraham but if one goes to them from the dead they will repent. But he said to him, if they do not hear Moses and the prophets, neither will they be persuaded, though one rise from the dead." And the truth of that actually took place if you'll consider those who were guarding the tomb when Jesus Christ did raise from the dead. They actually went to their religious leaders and they told them all things that had happened and they gave them money to tell a false story and they were perfectly okay with that.

They were not convinced though they had seen one rise from the dead. What more do we need than what he has said? He has given us his word. So in thinking about this validation, these are part of these things, I think there's four of them, that will help us to understand the purpose or the reason for these. The second of this is it is not to produce saving faith.

Now that sounds unusual. I thought the purpose of wonders and signs would be to produce faith. The fact is those cannot produce faith. I do not see that signs cause people to have saving faith. Although it may aid in some way, it does not produce saving faith.

However, we do see that it did aid in creating a type of non-saving faith. Did you know there is a type of non-saving faith? Saving faith only comes through the power of the Holy Spirit when he quickens a dead soul that produces saving faith and that alone through the incorporating or the bringing together of the Word of God and it is brought together in your and a person's soul by the power of the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit has to give you life in order to believe that. So that's where this saving faith happens.

It's not something that we work up. It's not something if we could just show signs and wonders. So in Acts chapter 8 in verse 12 and 13 this is what we read, but when they believed Philip as he preached the things concerning the kingdom of God in the name of Jesus Christ. Both men and women were baptized and then Simon himself also believed and when he was baptized he continued with Philip and was amazed seeing the miracles and signs which were done. And then down in verse 18 it says, and when Simon saw that through the laying on of the Apostles hands the Holy Spirit was given, he offered them money saying, give me this power also that anyone on whom I lay hands may receive the Holy Spirit.

But Peter said to him, your money perish with you because you thought that the gift of God could be purchased with money you have neither part nor portion in this matter for your heart is not right in the sight of God. In John 2, 23, the Gospel of John, chapter 2, verses 23 through 25, says this, Now when he was in Jerusalem, Jesus is in Jerusalem at the Passover during the feast. Many believed in His name when they saw the signs which He did. Now if we stop there we would say hey you just disproved what you just said. But then there's this but that we have to deal with.

But Jesus did not commit himself to them because he knew all men and had no need that anyone should testify of man for he knew what was in man. There is one exception that I found it's not a foolproof exception but it is somewhat of an exception in John 2, 11, this beginning of signs Jesus did in Cana of Galilee and manifested his glory and his disciples believed in him. However, there were times after this that Jesus rebuked their unbelief. So was this saving faith or was this there to accompany or to support or to help in the faith? I'll say this I'm not a hundred percent sure.

But listen to what Jesus says again in Luke 16 27 and I'm just gonna read the last part. But he said to them, if they do not hear Moses and the prophets, neither will they be persuaded, though one rise from the dead. It is only through the working and the power of the Holy Spirit to take a dead man and make him alive. It is the work of the Spirit of God through the Word of God. We know the Bible says in book of Romans chapter 10 that fate comes by hearing and hearing by the Word of God but yet not everyone who hears believes.

What makes the difference? The marrying of the Word of God by the Spirit of God in a person's soul causes saving faith. So all glory goes to God. Thirdly, signs, what's the purpose? They cause fear.

They cause an uncertainty in the heart of man who sees things that they can't understand and they cannot grapple with. They don't understand how this fits into their understanding of how the world works. So in Acts five and verses 12 and 13 it says, and through the hands of the Apostles many signs and wonders were done among the people and they were all with one accord in Solomon's ports yet none of the rest dared join them but the people esteemed them highly. It was a reverential fearful respect of this group called Christians because of what was taking place. Acts 2 43 again then fear came upon every soul and many wonders and signs were done through the Apostles.

And then number four, one thing that we do clearly see is that signs can actually harden and anger those who do not have faith. That's actually one of the purposes of signs and wonders to harden those who do not have faith. We see this in John 12 37, but although he had done so many signs before them, they did not believe him that the word of Isaiah the prophet might be fulfilled which he spoke Lord who has believed our report and to whom has the arm of the Lord been revealed here the arm of the Lord he's talking about his power he's talking about his strength that's what it means to whom has the arm of the Lord been revealed. Therefore, listen, therefore they could not believe because Isaiah said again, he has blinded their eyes and hardened their hearts, lest they should see with their eyes, lest they should understand with their hearts and turn so that I should heal them. Signs and wonders do not convert the soul.

In fact they have a tendency to harden a person who does not have faith. Acts 6, 8 through 9, and Stephen full of faith and power did great wonders and signs among the people and then there arose from some from what is called the synagogue of the freed men and listen to what it says, they were disputing with Stephen. It just caused an argument is what it did. They don't like the signs and wonders because of what it's producing in some and it actually makes them angry to the point that they're willing to dispute and we also know they're willing to kill. The next thing that I want to turn our attention to is by whom were signs and wonders performed?

First and foremost Signs and wonders are the workings of the Holy Spirit. That's who performs signs and wonders, okay? I'm not going to focus at this point on the Holy Spirit doing them, but actually those whom the Holy Spirit uses to do them. Okay, it's the Holy Spirit ultimately, but he actually uses certain people, the scripture says, to do them. So we fully acknowledge the work of the Holy Spirit in the life of the church and in the life of individual Christians.

And so in this section my focus will be on the humans who performed the signs and wonders and miracles. Acts 2 43 again, then fear came upon every soul and many wonders and signs were done through the apostles. So the first is through the apostles. The apostles of the Lord Jesus Christ are those through whom signs and wonders and miracles were performed. We see that again in Acts 2.43, our main passage for this message.

Also in Acts 19 11 through 12, now God worked unusual miracles by the hand of Paul. Notice unusual. They weren't normal. It was some things that were out of the ordinary. It says that so that even handkerchiefs or aprons were brought from him, from his body to the sick and the disease left them and the evil spirits went out of them.

Very unusual. Next we see, and again there's more passages here but I can only read so many of them. So the next would be prophets. Prophets, Acts 11, 27 and 28. In those days, or in these days, prophets came from Jerusalem to Antioch.

Then one of them named Agabus stood up and showed by the Spirit that there was going to be a great famine throughout all the world, which also happened in the days of Claudius Caesar. It happened. That proved what he said. That was a wonder. People heard it.

He said it. It happened. They wondered. Next would be at least one elder. I may be wrong on this but one elder at least.

And I mention this because Peter calls himself an elder in 1 Peter chapter 5. He says Peter an elder, or to the elders who am also an elder, he did wonders and signs and miracles, but I believe that he did them in his office of an apostle. I don't know of any others. If you know of another elder that did a sign or a wonder or a miracle, let me know after the service. And I couldn't find it.

Deacons, however, we see did some wonders and signs. In Acts 6, 8 we see that Stephen, full of faith and power, did great wonders and signs among the people. Also Philip in Acts 8, 6, and the multitudes with one accord heeded the things spoken by Philip, hearing and seeing the miracles which he did for unclean spirits, crying out with loud voice, came out of many who were possessed, and many who were paralyzed and lame were healed, and there was great joy in that city. In that city. Then also in Acts 8 13, then Simon himself also believed and when he was baptized he continued with Philip and was amazed seeing the miracles and signs which he did.

So Simon here is doing wonders and Simon did wonder, excuse me, Stephen did wonders, Philip did wonders and then Philip again does it in Acts chapter 8. Here's a curveball for you. False prophets and false teachers have the ability to do signs and wonders. Not by the power of the Holy Spirit. Matthew 24, 24, Jesus says, for false Christ and false prophets will arise and show great signs and wonders to deceive, if possible, even the elect.

2 Thessalonians 2, 9, the coming of the lawless one is according to the working of Satan with all power, signs, and lying wonders. So you can see here from this contrast between these two groups, if you will, through whom the signs and wonders, there had to be great discernment. You actually needed a standard by which to judge these things. As being a contractor, I have this thing that rolls up on my side and it's a tape measure and whenever I'm working I pull it out to make sure if someone was to hand me a stick and said this is 24 inches Why would I use the stick if I had the tape measure? So if the purpose me saying that is this if someone's coming to you, telling you, thus says the Lord, why don't you just go and see if thus says the Lord?

This is the canon. The word can mean a measuring read. This is by which, this is what you measure all things. Not by what somebody has an impression of or what somebody has some other standard by which they want to tell you what God says. This is the word of the Lord.

This is the word or the canon or the measuring read by which we judge all things. So in this time we had to understand that. And if you'll Remember when we went through 2 Peter and chapter 2 he says this, but there were false prophets among the people even as there will be false teachers among you who will secretly bring in destructive heresies. We must be on guard. We must be guarded from falsehoods and only the Word of God can give us what we need to do that.

So what is the purpose within the purpose, if you will? So what is the purpose of the apostles and prophets? Why did God use them in such an unusual way in the founding of the church, the New Testament church? First is this, they laid the foundation. So what Paul says in Ephesians 2.20, having been built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ himself being the chief cornerstone.

This was foundational work. Again, this resonates with me as being a builder because I know what a foundation does, how important the foundation is. However once the house is done you don't see it. It's the foundation. You don't continue to build the foundation all the way up.

It's the foundation and then upon that is the house that is built. Next it's to receive and proclaim the revelation of God. This was the purpose of the apostles and the prophets. They received the word of God, they proclaimed the revelation of God. I use that word specifically, the revelation of God, because it was something that was hidden until God told them and they proclaimed it and they wrote it.

We have words that teach us this in Ephesians 3, 2 through 5. He says, If indeed you have heard of the dispensation of the grace of God which was given to me for you, how that by revelation he made known to me the mystery as I have briefly written already, by which when you read, you may understand my knowledge in the mystery of Christ which in other ages was not made known to the sons of men, as it has now been revealed by the Spirit to his holy apostles and prophets. This was the purpose of the apostles and prophets. Also we see in 2nd Peter chapter 1 19 through 21 and so we have the prophetic word confirmed which you do well to heed as a light that shines in a dark place until the day dawns and the morning star arises in your hearts knowing this first that no prophecy of scripture is of any private interpretation for prophecy never came by the will of man but holy men of God spoke as they were moved by the Holy Spirit. It was the work of the Spirit in the lives and in the minds of the apostles and prophets to write the Word of God and to speak the word of God.

Thirdly, the purpose for the apostles and prophets would be this, their words were confirmed, again confirmation, by accompanying signs and wonders. Second Corinthians 12 says truly the signs of an apostle were accomplished among you with all perseverance in signs and wonders and mighty deeds." These were the signs of the apostles. Matthew Henry gives a helpful note for us here. He says, God owned them and gave them signal tokens of his presence with them many wonders and signs were done by the Apostles of divers sorts or different sorts which confirmed their doctrine and incontestably proved that it was from God. I believe that almost everyone here this morning would agree that the office of the Apostles or an office of the of an apostle has ceased with the closing of the New Testament or the completion.

And so I will definitively say there are no longer apostles. That's my view. No Orthodox Christian that I know of has a problem with that statement. The Apostles are no more. So there is an office that was highly functional in the New Testament that has ceased.

I believe that we are all okay with that. So from this point on is actually where the disagreements, more disagreements will come in and they're multiplied. I don't want to get in a bunch of arguments about it but here's where we are. So I said that the purpose of the Apostles and Prophets was to lay this foundational work and I mentioned Apostles mainly but let's look at Prophets and if you'll remember way back at the beginning of this message I mentioned here that I believe the gift of a prophet or prophecy had ceased with a caveat and I want to define that for you now. So a prophet is someone who prophesies.

Everybody can agree with that right? That's not controversial. However, not everyone who prophesies is a prophet. I'll clarify that more in just a moment but first let's get a clear picture of what prophecy is. There are two meanings to this word with some other nuances in there, but the main two things is this.

The first meaning is exactly what you're thinking of when I say a prophet. You're thinking of that person who has foretold or spoken the Word of God is that which is a person who has received revelation from God and it is infallible and it's authoritative and they speak it. However, it's not only something foretold as in future events, it's actually what Paul mentions happened to him that he had received revelation and that he proclaimed it and he actually said I wrote it to you, but also it is this speaking forth God's will, especially of his purpose of salvation and godly living. In this sense it was new revelation. Ephesians 3 2 through 5 again says, if indeed you have heard of the dispensation of the grace of God which is given to me for you, how that by revelation he made known to me the mystery as I have briefly written already by which when you read you may understand my knowledge in the mystery of Christ which in other ages was not made known to the sons of men as it has now been revealed by the Holy Spirit to his holy apostles and prophets.

That is a revelation given to a man to give to the church and to write it out and to speak it forth. Second Peter, again, Second Peter 1, 19-20, I'm not going to read that again but just quickly you understand that it is not a private interpretation but these men were moved by the Holy Spirit. It's not yeah I feel like I need to... Thus saith the Lord. That's what it is.

If you'll note when I read the scripture before I read the scripture I will be so bold to say, thus saith the Lord." When I finish reading, that stops. And then it's me. And I'm trying to help us to understand through much study and prayer and sweat and tears and fear, Lord help me. That first part is thus says the Lord. So as we consider this second type of prophecy.

The second type of prophecy is something that any believer may proclaim as telling forth God's word that has already been revealed and written down in the Bible. It's what I'm doing right now. In a sense, I am prophesying. I'm telling forth what God has said. This is the Word of the Lord.

I can say that when I read His scripture. I can in a sense prophesy of telling you what God has said. This does not make me a prophet. Which in the New Testament, remember it's a very restrictive word in that sense. Prophets are placed side by side with the apostles as the foundation of the New Testament Church, Ephesians 2.20.

So the first is foretelling, it is this prophetic word that thus says the Lord God has given him direct revelation, he shares that, he may write that, and here on this second point of prophecy or prophesying, it is more clearly the act or the work of preaching the word of God. So you have to be careful when you use that word and in fact you'll find I rarely use it just because of the confusion of it sometimes. I don't say when somebody says, hey what are you doing Sunday? I'm going to go prophesy. I don't say that.

I'm going to go preach because it's clearer. So, it's this second type of prophecy, this this forth telling or preaching that is the proclamation of the already revealed Word of God that has been canonized for us in the Bible that I believe is still active today. I absolutely do not believe that there is any new revelation today. So 1st Corinthians 14.3 says, but he who prophesies speaks edification, exhortation, and comfort to men. Now the reason I'm quoting that verse there is because I want you to see that this prophecy actually has these two meanings.

The first of which I've said is what you think about typically when you think of a prophet and the second one though it says that he who prophesies he speaks edification, exhortation, and comfort. It does not list here revelation. There he's showing you this other side of the coin of a prophet here where we see that all prophesied do not pertain to hidden truths or revealed but to truth that has already been revealed and it comes in the form of edification I pray that that's what's happening today that we are all being edified that we're all being exhorted and and that we would be comforted to know that we can rest in the word of God. So, a few closing thoughts and then some application. What did Jesus say about signs and wonders?

It's important that we understand what he said. In Matthew 12, 38, Jesus said, it says in the scripture here, Matthew 12, then some of the scribes and Pharisees answered saying, Teacher, we want to see a sign from you. But he answered and said to them, an evil and adulterous generation seeks after a sign, and no sign will be given to it except the sign of Jonah the prophet." The sign's not evil, Okay? Seeking signs, Jesus says, is evil. Because what you're saying is, what you've said is not enough.

I need more. Matthew 16, 4, again, a wicked and adulterous generation, seeks after a sign and no sign will be given to it. He repeats it again in the same gospel. And then also in John 4 and verse 48, then Jesus said to him, unless you people see signs and wonders you will by no means believe. This is not saying, hey I need to give you signs and wonders so you believe.

He's saying It's not enough. He's rebuking them, saying that they won't believe the word. They must seek after signs and wonders to wow them. Jesus not only had something to say, but let me show you something that Paul says in 1 Corinthians in chapter 1 in verse 21 through 24. He says, for since in the wisdom of God the world through wisdom did not know God, it pleased God through the foolishness of the message preached to save those who believe.

For Jews request a sign and Greeks seek after wisdom. But we preach Christ crucified, to the Jews a stumbling block, and to the Greeks foolishness, but to those who are called both Jews and Greeks Christ, the power of God and the wisdom of God. I want you to seek Christ, not signs. How do we apply this? There could be a thousand applications I could list for you.

I'm going to give you 300, no I'm kidding, six. What, sorry, number one, I want you to believe that the Holy Spirit has given every believer a spiritual gift for the edification of the body of Christ and not for yourself. He gave you a spiritual gift to use it for others. What does that say when you're not here for no good reason? Let's say no good reason.

You're robbing God's people from your spiritual gift. Number two, I want you to be satisfied with the Word of God. We do not need more revelation. We need to obey the revelation that we already have. I'm having a hard enough time with what I do know.

I don't need more. Number three, signs and wonders and miracles do not cause people to believe the gospel. The Spirit of God working through the Word of God is what brings salvation. That's what Paul says in 1st Corinthians there. Number four, This is a warning one.

Be careful of anyone telling you, God told me, unless they're reading the Bible to you. Number five, I want you to believe that God can and does heal people and that's a miracle. He does. James chapter five says this, this really struck me. It was actually read this morning.

Is anyone among you sick? 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 will save the sick, and the Lord will raise him up. If he has committed sins, he will be forgiven." It seems that God's method of healing is the prayer of faith.

You know it says here also that if you're sick don't expect the elders to know you're sick. Tell them. It says that if anyone's among you sick let him call for the elders of the church. Call us. We would love to pray with you and you know what we're gonna pray?

Dear God, heal them. And we've seen it happen. We've seen God give relief. Sometimes it's not a complete healing. Sometimes it's just relief.

Sometimes it's just one night of good sleep without pain. Sometimes it's complete healing. That is up to God. He does the healing and we will praise him for it. We do that on Wednesday nights, by the way.

Number six and finally, the greatest sign and the wonder to this lost world, listen, would be that God's people would love one another. By this shall all men know that you are my disciples if you have love one for another. This sign will prove all that Jesus said. Let us go forth and love one another. Let's pray.

Our Father in heaven, Lord we thank you for the ministry of the Holy Spirit in this church and in our lives. I rejoice in you God of my salvation. Lord that you have given gifts to men that you have blessed us with such spiritual blessings. Lord I pray that your spirit would be poured out upon this people. Lord that you would increase our faith, that you would increase our love, that we would seek the substance, that we would find the scriptures sufficient, that we would rest upon your Word, that we would find joy in the Holy Spirit, that we would not grieve the Holy Spirit because of our sin, that we would understand, oh Lord, that the Spirit's work in our life is to be putting sin to death in our life and causing us to love one another.

And Lord to think of the spiritual gifts and the fruit of the Spirit that you have listed there in Galatians for us. Lord may that be our creed, may that be our strivings, may it be proof that we are yours. Increase our love and Lord increase our joy in the great God of our salvation and we ask it in Jesus name, amen.