How to Establish Religious Authority #14

A. Last week, in this series, we learned that in the Bible there are different kinds of commands that fall
under the Law of God. There are generic laws and there are specific laws. And knowing the
difference between the two is very important. Some commands in the Bible are limited in their scope
or application. That means that some commands are not meant to be observed by everybody.
Example of the Sabbath Day worship in the O.T. And our worship in the N.T. Jews commanded to
worship on the Sabbath. That was yesterday. We call it Saturday. It was the Jewish Sabbath. We,
as Christians, worship together on Sunday which is the First day of the week. The Sabbath was
given only to the Jews. There is no such thing as a Christian Sabbath. Ex. 20:8; Deut. 5:2-3; Ezek.
20:12; Ps. 147:19-20. The Law of Moses died on the cross and the Jewish concept of the Sabbath
being a day of worship died with it. The concept of Sunday (The 1st day of the week) being the
Christian Sabbath is a made-up, denominational concept and has no purpose or foundation in the
New Testament.
And then there are some commands that are universal in their application. That means they apply to everyone, in every church, in every place, in a dispensation of time. When we say the command applies to those in the church, In a dispensation of Time we mean that some commands are temporary
and apply only to that particular time of Biblical history. We saw an example of that in 1 Cor.
chapters 13-14. Paul is teaching about the uses and abuses of the miraculous spiritual gifts that
some people had in the first century church.
a. Paul specifically taught that these special Spiritual gifts were temporary in the church and
presently they would be taken away. 1 Cor 13:8?10, “Where there are prophecies, they will
cease; (A prophet is an Inspired preacher. He does not have to study God’s Word in order to
teach it. God tells him directly and inspiredly what to teach and preach. That is going to stop)
where there are tongues, they will be stilled; (The gift of tongues was not gibberish that no one
understood. It was the ability to, inspiredly teach and preach the gospel in a language they had
never learned. That’s going to stop) were there is knowledge, it will pass away. (Special spiritual
knowledge was the supernatural, inspired gift of being able to explain God’s will and
purposes in Jesus so people could come to Jesus to be saved.) For we know in part and we
prophesy in part, (All that knowledge and ability to teach God’s word to all the world was given in
bits and pieces as the occasion and need arose. It was in part. It was not a completed,
universally distributed revelation as we have today.) but when that which is complete (Teleion,
can mean perfect when it means perfect in it’s completeness) is come, the incomplete will
disappear.”
(A) What does that say? When the completed revelation and will of God, about the New
Covenant in Jesus, is made available those temporary spiritual gifts are no longer
available because they are no longer needed. Besides, that God warned about people who
would fake it. People who would come with false doctrines from the Devil who would
infiltrate the church and lead people to be lost instead of being saved.
(1) There are reasons those gifts were temporary. In the beginning, Only the apostles were led into all truth. Jesus is speaking to the apostles only when He says, in Jno. 16:12-15.

Jesus fulfilled that promise to the apostles in Acts 2:1?4, "When the day of Pentecost came, they were all together in one place. Suddenly a sound like the blowing of a violent wind came from heaven and filled the whole house where they were sitting. They saw what seemed to be tongues of fire that separated and came to rest on each of them. (Each of them being the apostles only) And all were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues as the Spirit enabled them.” .....Vs. 14, says, “Then Peter stood up with the Eleven, (The eleven means Peter and the other 11 apostles—there were only 12. The twekve apostles were the only ones who were miraculously endowed with the Holy Spirit and spoke in tongues.) raised his voice and addressed the crowd: "Fellow Jews and all of you who live in Jerusalem, let me explain this to you; listen carefully to what I say.”
When Jesus first gave the Great Commission it was to the apostles only. Matt. 28:16?20.
(2) In Jno. 16:13, Jesus gave them the promise that the Holy spirit would come and guide them into all religious truth. He then instructed them in Lk. 24:46?49.
Acts 1:3?5. After His resurrection, “... while he was eating with them, he gave them this command: "Do not leave Jerusalem, but wait for the gift my Father promised, which you have heard me speak about. For John baptized with water, but in a few days you ( You who? You Apostles) will be baptized with the Holy Spirit." The Baptism with the Holy Spirit was given only to the apostles.
In Vs. 8, Notice what will be the result of that. “You (You who? You apostles) will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth." That command and promise was not given to any one except the Apostles. They did that and we can read about what happened in Acts 2:1-47. The church became a reality and it was looked after and overseen by those 12 apostles.
(3) The apostles were the only ones who could pass those special, spiritual gifts on to another person. How do I know that? Acts 8:1-19. By preaching the Gospel that was confirmed by Philip performing miracles people believed and were baptized and became Christians. But, no one in this new congregation had the spiritual gift to speak in tongues or to teach inspiredly, or to perform miracles, etc.
(1) That’s why two apostles had to come and lay hands on them. Vs. 14?19. Those miraculous gifts were bestowed on those first century Christians by the apostles laying their hands on them. The apostles were the only people who were BAPTIZED with the Holy Spirit. They had all of the spiritual gifts and could pass them on to others by laying on of their hands.
(2) Philip was not an apostle and did not have the power to lay his hands on someone and pass those gifts on to them. That’s why Peter and John had to come down there. That’s why those gifts were temporary. When the apostles died no one was left to pass on these spiritual gifts. But, they did not die until God inspired some of the New Testament apostles and prophets to write down what we have in this book called the New Testament. You do not need the gift of knowledge, prophecy, inspiration today. It has all been made known in this Book.
(3) This is the perfect, completed will of God. That which is perfect has come therefore we no longer need the impartial. The apostles and prophets wrote down in black and white God’s plan of salvation that is in Jesus. 2 Tim. 3:16?17. The perfect, completed will of God has come to you and me in written form. And the apostle who wrote half of it tells us in 1 Cor. 4:6, “Now, brothers, I have applied these things to myself and Apollos for your benefit, so that you may learn from us the meaning of the saying, "Do not go beyond what is written." What are we to learn? Do not go beyond what is written. The only thing left for you and me to do is to believe it, obey it live it in your life with out adding anything to it And without omitting anything from it. Do that and you will be saved.
(4) Acts 20:32.

Spur - 05/11/03 am Bob Martin