THE GIFTS OF THE SPIRIT.
By A. F. Ballenger
It had been a long time since the manifestation of miracles. Israel was sorely oppressed by the Midianites. The wonderful miracles of the Exodus were only about two hundred years old, but those who witnessed them were dead. It looked to sinning Israel as if miracles were at an end. Some doubtless were ready to deny that there ever had been miracles. At this time an angel appeared to Gideon, and informed him that a miracle was about to be wrought for the deliverance of his people. Gideon himself was tempted to think that miracles were confined to the fathers, and he answered, "Where be all His miracles which our fathers told us of?" Judges 6:13. After the miracle of the fire and of the fleece, he believed. Gideon collected an army of 32,000 men, but, when tested, 22,000 of them were found to entertain the conviction that the days of miracles were passed, and were allowed to follow their convictions home. For good reasons, 9,700 of the remaining 10,000 were sent home. The remaining 300 believed that God would perform a miracle in their day; and He did. Many to-day are perplexed, as was Gideon, over the absence of miracles in the church. They do not believe that miracles ended with the lives of the apostles; much less do they attempt to explain away the scriptural account of these miracles. They read and believe the record of how Christ went about "preaching the Gospel of the kingdom, and healing all manner of sickness and all manner of disease among the people," and of how "they brought unto Him all sick people that were taken with divers diseases and torments, and those which were possessed with devils, and those which were lunatic, and those that had the palsy; and He healed them." Matt. 4:23, 24; 8:16, 17; 12:15; Mark 6:55, 56; Luke 4:40; 6:17-19; 9:10, 11. Against the claim that these miracles of healing were intended by the Lord to continue only during the lifetime of the apostles, they present the promises: "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 16:17, 18. "Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that believeth on Me, the works that I do shall he do also; and greater works than these shall he do; because I go unto My Father." John 14:12. The Acts of the Apostles is a record of the fulfilment of these promises. "And by the hands of the apostles were many signs and wonders wrought among the people. . . . There came also a multitude out of the cities round about unto Jerusalem, bringing sick folks, and them which were vexed with unclean spirits; and they were healed every one." Acts 5:12-16. The claim that these miracles were confined to the ministry of the apostles is refuted by the records of the miracles by Philip and Stephen, members of the seven chosen to minister to the poor. Of the former it is recorded that "Philip went down to the city of Samaria, and preached Christ unto them. And the people with one accord gave heed unto those things which Philip spake, hearing and seeing the miracles which he did. For unclean spirits, crying with loud voice, came out of many that were possessed with them; and many taken with palsies, and that were lame, were healed. And there was great joy in that city." Acts 8:5-8. Of the latter it is written that "Stephen, full of faith and power, did great wonders and miracles among the people." Acts 6:8. Thus we see that the promise that "these signs shall follow them that believe" appears in the practise of those who were not counted among the apostles. But not only does it appear in the practise of those besides the apostles, but by precept it is enjoined upon others of an order which, all will admit, continues as long as the church militant continues. Here is the precept: "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 5:14-16. And the Lord—foreseeing that the time would come when unbelief would attempt to relegate all the miraculous to the time of the fathers, and attribute to them advantages not to be shared by other believers of a later time—calls special attention to the great miracle-working prophet Elias as "a man subject to like passions as we are." Notwithstanding these strong, unmistakable promises, the gifts are to-day practically absent from the church. This statement will call forth denials from certain quarters, but it is, nevertheless, true. I do not believe that there is a person living to-day who is exercising the gifts of healing. If there were, there would be no need of advertising, so common to-day. The multitudes cured would advertise so loudly that the healer would be thronged day and night, and possibly some earnest souls would tear the roof off the house in order to bring some sufferer into his presence. There are a few sick people who are healed even in this day of unbelief, but the exercise of the gifts of healing is nowhere seen. When one reads the promises made to the church concerning healing, and the wonderful record of miracles which were wrought in the early days of the church, and then contemplates the absence of these "mighty works" in the church of to-day, unless there is a clear understanding of the reason for it, there will be heard Gideon's cry of staggered faith, "Where be all His miracles which our fathers told us of?" And there is danger that this will soon be followed by an attempt to limit miracles to the days of the apostles; and this in turn will be followed by the denial of all miracles; and this, by the midnight of infidelity. There is a reason for the absence of the gifts, but it is dangerous to one's reputation to give it. It used to be dangerous to life. As a result of giving this reason for the absence of miracles in Nazareth, our Lord was dragged down from the pulpit, out of the synagogue, to the edge of a precipice, down which the church leaders tried to dash Him to death. Luke 4:16-30. And what was the cause which wrought them up to such a rage?—He told them, through references to similar conditions in the days of the prophets, that God could more safely manifest the gifts of healing on behalf of the heathen than He could on behalf of His church in their sinful unbelief. And herein lies the reason for the absence of the gifts to-day. The church is backslidden. The Lord can not honor a backslidden church. If He did He would disgrace His throne. The world judges God by the lives of His people, and it is not inconsistent that it should; for the Lord has said of His people, "Ye are My witnesses;" "Ye are the light of the world;" "Ye are manifestly declared to be the epistle of Christ;" "Ye are the body of Christ." Isa. 43:12; Matt. 5:14; 2 Cor. 3:3; 1 Cor. 12:27. And the only way God has of saving His reputation when those who are set forth as His witnesses, witness against Him, is to withhold His witness of approval from them by no longer "bearing them witness, both with signs and wonders, and with divers miracles, and gifts of the Holy Ghost." Should the Lord give the gifts of healing to some member of the church bearing His name to-day, whereby the world would be attracted to Him as it was to the apostles, before that church had confessed its worldliness, it would only confirm that church in its worldliness and pride. The members of the church thus honored would meet the members of other communions with the exultant cry: "We are the true church. God has at last settled that question. Have you heard the news? God has placed in our church the gifts of healing, and the preaching of our creed is now confirmed with signs following. This proves that we are right and you are wrong. It also proves that the church is not so backslidden as some have declared her to be; for God would not thus honor us if we were as worldly as some old fogies think we are." Thus it is plainly seen that the withholding of the confirming miracles from the lukewarm church of to-day, is the wisest thing the Lord can do. To do otherwise would be to confirm them in their opinion that they are "rich and increased with goods, and have need of nothing," and thus cause them to close their ears to the message from God, on the acceptance of which hangs their salvation,—"Thou art wretched, and miserable, and poor, and blind, and naked." I praise God as I write that He has not compromised His holiness by giving His confirming gifts to a backslidden church. And I feel to anticipate the song of vindication, sung on the sea of glass, when men shall come to see the wisdom and mercy of God in His dealings with the children of God: "Great and marvelous are Thy works, Lord God Almighty; just and true are Thy ways, Thou King of saints." Rev. 15:3. A. F. BALLENGER.