The two gifts of God as witnesses
Robert Ewing
Throughout the pages of the Holy Bible, wherever God's truth is revealed and presented to the masses, you will find God's TWO WITNESSES, in some strange form, for He has established and ordained that at least TWO WITNESSES must prove all truth. In many places, we see these two sacred witnesses as human beings guided and empowered by an Elohim who works miracles, as in the case of Moses and Aaron, Paul and Silas, and the 12 apostles who came out two by two. But in the surrendered hands of these human witnesses, there were SIGNS and MIRACLES to confirm their word of promise and prove the presented truth. As we explore these great mysteries hidden in the Book that God wrote, we find the TWO GIFTS OF SIGNS that have been placed in the body of Christ as miraculous witnesses with which Christ promised to confirm the preached word of life when it was preached in its fullness and in faith.
Before undertaking the study of these TWO STRANGER GIFTS which were promised to be used as SIGNS of the presence and power of the Holy Spirit of Christ in the church body, we can look for a minute at the other GIFTS, all of which are spiritual. some
The first and greatest GIFT comes from the Father, in the gift of His Son Christ Jesus, as the Lamb of God, who by His completed work at Calvary, made Satan a defeated enemy. This great GIFT is eternal life (John 3:16) and we who have received this greatest of all GIFTS in our lives, do not have to labor or work to KEEP this GIFT, because the GIFT KEEPS us, like the GIFT Christ . But as we turn to the TWO GROUPS of GIFTS mentioned in the letters of the apostle Paul that are offered to the "permanent branches" or fully surrendered Christian lives, as "talents" or stewardships of service, we see the first group of 9 spiritual gifts: fruits which are listed in Gal. 5:22 are given by the Holy Spirit for individual benefit.
These 9 gift-fruits are actually GRACES from God that will enrich our lives of Christian witness and through these 9 graces in full operation in our individual lives Christ will be exalted in our individual lives Christ will be exalted in all its beauty. of holiness and others can see Jesus in us. These fruits of grace are called LOVE, JOY, PEACE, SUFFERING, GENTLENESS, FAITH, GENTLENESS and TEMPERANCE "against which there is no law." In the gospel of John we are told HOW to receive these 9 individual gifts of the Holy Spirit, being faithful and obedient in our first love. Too many believers are too "busy" with the things of this present world or even too busy with their own good works that they have not yet reached the end of one's life, where divine life begins.
These last named disciples need to come into the presence of their Master with bowed head and bent knees and with a surrendered will, receive a deeper sanctifying experience with their baptism of power so that their coming King can make them into many-talented Christians. In the second group of spiritual gifts mentioned by the great apostle, we find the same number of 9 "pneumatika" offered for service, but this time we find that 'these are placed in the body of Christ the church and are supernatural spiritual GIFTS that are they develop. the faith of this great body of saints on earth.
These 9 GIFTS are given in verses 8 to 10 of chapter 12 of Paul's first letter to the early Christian church in Corinth and are called "The GIFT of the word of WISDOM" (or wisdom "in applying the holy word") . ); the 'GIFT of the word of KNOWLEDGE (or knowledge of the holy word); be GIFT of FAITH; the ' GIFTS (plural) of HEALING; GIFT OF WORKING MIRACLES; GIFT of PROPHETY; GIFT of SAYING of spirits; various types of LANGUAGES (plural); and GIFT of INTERPRETATION of LANGUAGES
The apostle to the Gentiles must have thought that these gifts were very important since not only three entire chapters of his first letter to the Corinthians are devoted to the study of their operation and control, but in his other letters he also mentions them. In his letter to the two Christian churches that existed in Rome at that time, one of which, thanks to the archaeological discoveries that we now know, was in the basement of Paul's motherhouse, the apostle writes in Rom. 1:11 WHY you desire to see these 9 spiritual gifts in full operation in Christian assemblies, "For I long to see you, that I may import unto you some spiritual GIFT to the end, and that ye may be established." Then later he wrote to the Hebrews in Heb. 2:4 says, "God also bears witness to them with signs and wonders and with various miracles and gifts from the Holy God." Paul shows us this in chapter 13 of 1a. Cor. That each of these nine Spiritual GIFTS must always manifest itself with a spirit of love to show all its beauty of holiness and power.
As we remember the days of ancient Israel, we can see each of these 9 GIFTS of the Spirit, prefigured in the miracles of ancient prophets and kings. For example, we see the first two gifts of wisdom and knowledge given to King Solomon, while in the lives of the prophets Elijah and Elisha and others, we see the miracles of healing, of the dead raised, of those who never fail. When the glass of oil was on the windows of the house, the waters of the Jordan receded and Elijah rose to heaven in a whirlwind.
In the New Testament we all know 9 of these precious miraculous gifts in the ministry of Jesus when he healed the sick, cleansed the lepers, raised the dead, calmed the storm, preached the word of life, fed the multitude, returned the water. , in wine and many other miracles, all foreshadowing 9 GIFTS that He was to give to the church. We now come to the topic of our study "The TWO GIFTS OF SIGNS" and we find them among the 9 just mentioned, which were granted. church. These TWO GIFTS that are given as a SIGN are the gifts of HEALING and TONGUES, which are the only ones among the 9 that are mentioned in plural. We studied last month in the "SIGN OF THE LEPROUS HAND" where God had placed miracles of HEALING among His people as a SIGN or proof of His power to completely redeem His people who trusted Him from ALL pain and harm, and now we see in 1 Cor. 14:5 and 39. "I wish you ALL would speak in TONGUES -" "and you would forbid not to speak in TONGUES." Then, in 1 Cor 14:22, the apostle shows us why he wants every Christian to have this GIFT when he states: "Therefore TONGUES are A SIGN, not to those who believe... but to those who DO NOT believe." . The POWER of these TWO SIGNS is seen in the first two miracles performed in the early apostolic church.
The first came on Pentecost through the SIGN of TONGUES miracles where Jews from 17 different nations heard Peter's prophetic word as he preached the first sermon and 3000 souls were added to the church that day. The second miracle seen in the early church was at the Beautiful Gate of the Holy Temple when Peter and John used the SIGN OF HEALING and 5,000 more souls were added to the church. Thus we see these two miraculous gifts of the Holy Spirit in action and how Christ intended them to remain in operation as bells calling many to salvation, because these two sign gifts can be SEEN and HEARD by all and because of that fact. , Satan has fought them harder than any of the other GIFTS. In fact, in a cold and powerless church, he has been able to bring these TWO SIGN GIFTS to such disgrace and encirclement that the church has expelled them and only sees them in beggar's clothes as they sit on the road. But as the proud and arrogant Sir Launsfal advanced in search of the holy grail and looked from afar at the poor beggar who cried out for help as he passed by, he had to learn his lesson the hard way and return broken and humble in his body. spirit to find the holy grail in the same hand of the beggar, so are those Christians broken in health and humiliated in spirit, who also find the holy grail in the TWO GIFTS OF SIGNS offered by the hands of the Holy Spirit who sits at the side of every man's life
Thus, many who come the hard way to find God's blessings are having their Spirit-filled lives crowned with the indescribable joy of the Holy Spirit as they once again find the "faith that was once delivered to the saints." Today in the modern church those TWO SIGN GIFTS have been crucified outside the door where their Lord was crucified and if we are willing to follow Him outside the door of organized Christianity we will find them waiting by the cross. with the cup of blessing in his hands, as a deposit of our inheritance. These two witnesses have remained throughout the centuries as SIGNS that point through their miracles to the resurrected Christ and His immutable Word. This unchanging Christ in a changing world has sealed his great commission to the church with these words in Mark 16:17-18.
"And these SIGNS will follow those who believe (have faith);
In my name they will cast out demons; They will speak with new LANGUAGES;-
They will lay hands on the sick and they will recover,
