What is speaking in tongues and prophesying?

[Waggles]

Miracles, healings and the power of God is really to save people from false religions where history and culture has entrapped multitudes for centuries. 

Muslims have no concept of miraculous healing as everything that happens for good or for bad is the will of Allah. So if you have cancer that is because Allah wants you to have cancer. And I have no idea what Hindus, Buddhists and others believe on these matters; but it seems to me that fate and fatalism are major tenets of other religions.

When people enjoy being set free and experiencing the power of the true God and being born new again by the Holy Spirit then suddenly their old religion is shown up as powerless and not of the God of Heaven. 

In Pakistan one of our churches suffered some martyrdom with the pastor and some men being killed by their neighbours in the same township. But the church and their faith has remained steady because they know the truth of what they have received.

[missmuffet]

3 hours ago, Justin Adams said:

No signs. No wonders for the unsaved to see.. no wonder we are powerless. And to think Christ the Lord is ruling and reigning - AND TWIDDLING HIS THUMBS...

Question: "Why do so many people seek after signs and wonders?"

Answer: Our God is a God of wonders (Psalm 136:3-4). As the Creator and Sustainer of all that is, God has the power to suspend natural laws in order to fulfill His purposes. Miracles were a part of the ministries of Moses, Elijah and Elisha, and of course Jesus and the apostles, and their miracles primarily served the purpose of confirming their message as being from God (Hebrews 2:3-4). Today, many people still seek to experience the miraculous, and some will go to great lengths to have that experience. There may be many reasons for such a desire, and Scripture gives us at least five:

1. Some people seek after signs and wonders because they want confirmation of the truth of God. There is nothing inherently wrong with this desire. In fact, God willingly gave signs to Moses (Exodus 4:1-9) and Gideon (Judges 6:11-22) to confirm His word. Miracles can aid a person’s coming to faith, as in John 2:23, “Many people saw the miraculous signs he was doing and believed in his name.”

However, there comes a time when enough miracles have been performed—the truth has been proved—and it is time to exercise faith. When Moses hesitated to obey after a series of miracles at the burning bush, “the LORD’s anger burned” (Exodus 4:14).

Also, it is nobler in God’s sight to believe without needing a miracle. Jesus visited the Samaritans, and “because of his words many more became believers” (John 4:41, emphasis added). Just a few verses later, Jesus rebukes the Galileans: “Unless you people see miraculous signs and wonders . . . you will never believe” (John 4:48). Unlike the Samaritans, the people of Galilee required signs and wonders.

2. Some people seek after signs and wonders because they do not believe the signs and wonders which have already been performed. The Pharisees of Matthew 12 were just such a lot. Jesus had been performing miracles for quite some time when a group of scribes and Pharisees came to Him with an insolent demand to see another sign. In response, Jesus condemned them as “wicked and adulterous” (Matthew 12:38-39).

They were “wicked” in that they refused to believe the signs and wonders Christ had already performed. “In spite of his wonders, they did not believe” (Psalm 78:32). Their hearts were hardened towards the truth, even after numerous public miracles. Nothing would make them believe; their hearts were as pharaoh’s, hardened after witnessing so many of Moses’ miracles in Egypt (Exodus 9:34-35).

They were “adulterous” in the spiritual sense, having left the true worship of God to follow a man-made set of rules and traditions. Not satisfied with the miracles Jesus was doing, they demanded something even greater. As commentator Matthew Barnes puts it, “They looked for signs of their own devising.” So entrenched was their rejection of Christ that, when later presented with the “sign of the prophet Jonah” (Christ’s resurrection, Matthew 12:39-40), they still would not believe.

3. Some people seek after signs and wonders because they seek an occasion to excuse their unbelief. There were people in Jesus’ day who “tested” Him by seeking a sign (Matthew 16:1; Luke 11:16). Since they specified that the sign be “from heaven,” they most likely wanted something spectacular, similar to Elijah’s calling down fire from the sky (1 Kings 18:38) or Isaiah’s causing the sun to reverse course (Isaiah 38:8). Probably, their “test” was designed to be something “too big” for Jesus to accomplish—they simply hoped He would attempt it and fail in the attempt.

4. Some people seek after signs and wonders because they are curious thrill-seekers. Like the crowds in John 6:2 and King Herod in Luke 23:8, they want to see something sensational, but they have no real desire to know the truth of Christ.

5. Some people seek after signs and wonders because they hope to get something for themselves. After Jesus fed the multitudes, a large crowd followed Him to the other side of Galilee. Jesus saw their true motivation, however, and rebuked it: “I tell you the truth, you are looking for me, not because you saw miraculous signs but because you ate the loaves and had your fill” (John 6:26). The crowd’s desire was not to know Christ or even to see more miracles; it was simply to fill their stomachs again.

Better than seeking after a new miracle is taking God at His Word. Simple faith is more pleasing to the Lord than a reliance on a dazzling sensory experience. “Jesus told him, ‘Because you have seen me, you have believed; blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed’” (John 20:29).

https://www.gotquestions.org/signs-and-wonders.html

Edited April 24, 2021 by missmuffet

[missmuffet]

4 hours ago, David1701 said:

It's not my opinion, it is what the Bible states, as I demonstrated in my previous post.

We are not supposed to suit ourselves, but to believe what the Bible says.

That is true. When I see someone post something I do not think is biblical I say "suit yourself". I think that is a much better christian reply than some other replies I have seen on Worthy. 
 

[Waggles]

8 minutes ago, missmuffet said:

However, there comes a time when enough miracles have been performed—the truth has been proved—and it is time to exercise faith.

That is the sort of doctrinal nonsense that the RCC fed me. Hogwash!

It is your cross to bear. What rubbish. God wants us to rejoice and to have joy in him by his Holy Spirit.

And we do constantly exercise faith daily when we pray in tongues and pray for healings and miracles, especially for others with great needs. 

Jud 1:17  But YE beloved, remember the words spoken before by the apostles of our Lord Jesus Christ; 
1:18  that they said to you, In the last time mockers shall be, walking after their own ungodly lusts. 
1:19  These are they who make separations, having only soul, not having Spirit. 
1:20  But ye, beloved, building up yourselves on your most holy faith, praying in the Holy Spirit, [praying in tongues] see 1Cor 14:14-15
1:21  keep yourselves in God’s love, looking for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ unto eternal life. 

[Waggles]

16 minutes ago, missmuffet said:

Better than seeking after a new miracle is taking God at His Word. Simple faith is more pleasing to the Lord than a reliance on a dazzling sensory experience. “Jesus told him, ‘Because you have seen me, you have believed; blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed’” (John 20:29).

https://www.gotquestions.org/signs-and-wonders.html

This is call out Jesus and making him a liar - that the scriptures are not true... 

Mark 16:15  And he said to them, Go into all the world, and preach the gospel to the whole creation. 
16:16  Who hath believed and is baptized shall be saved; but who hath disbelieved shall be condemned. 
16:17  And these signs shall follow them that have believed: in my name shall they cast out demons, speak with tongues; 
16:18  and in their hands they shall take up serpents, and if they drink aught deadly, it shall in now wise hurt them; they shall lay hands on the sick, and they shall recover. 
16:19  So then the Lord Jesus, after he had spoken to them, was taken up into heaven, and sat down at the right hand of God. 
16:20  And THEY went forth, and preached everywhere, the Lord working with them, and confirming the word by the signs that followed. 

NOTE that Jesus never said that this would be for a season or only for the first generation or for the beginning - no it is for yesterday, today and tomorrow. 

Acts 2:39  For to you is the promise, and to your children, and to all that are afar off, as many as the Lord our God shall call unto him.

[Waggles]

22 minutes ago, missmuffet said:

4. Some people seek after signs and wonders because they are curious thrill-seekers. Like the crowds in John 6:2 and King Herod in Luke 23:8, they want to see something sensational, but they have no real desire to know the truth of Christ.

This is what I would expect from the satan and his lot not from some supposedly learned Christian site. 

The trouble with cessationists is that real successful thriving Pentecostal churches challenge their lack of faith and obedience to the original gospel preached by Jesus and the apostles; and practiced by the church of the NT. 

[David1701]

2 hours ago, missmuffet said:

That is true. When I see someone post something I do not think is biblical I say "suit yourself". I think that is a much better christian reply than some other replies I have seen on Worthy. 
 

Feel free to attempt to show that the Scriptures I quoted are untrue; but you would need concrete, scriptural proof that they are no longer applicable (and there is no such proof).

Replies like "suit yourself" are entirely unproductive and unhelpful.

Edited April 25, 2021 by David1701

[Justin Adams]

9 hours ago, missmuffet said:

Question: "Why do so many people seek after signs and wonders?"

Answer: Our God is a God of wonders (Psalm 136:3-4). As the Creator and Sustainer of all that is, God has the power to suspend natural laws in order to fulfill His purposes. Miracles were a part of the ministries of Moses, Elijah and Elisha, and of course Jesus and the apostles, and their miracles primarily served the purpose of confirming their message as being from God (Hebrews 2:3-4). Today, many people still seek to experience the miraculous, and some will go to great lengths to have that experience. There may be many reasons for such a desire, and Scripture gives us at least five:

1. Some people seek after signs and wonders because they want confirmation of the truth of God. There is nothing inherently wrong with this desire. In fact, God willingly gave signs to Moses (Exodus 4:1-9) and Gideon (Judges 6:11-22) to confirm His word. Miracles can aid a person’s coming to faith, as in John 2:23, “Many people saw the miraculous signs he was doing and believed in his name.”

However, there comes a time when enough miracles have been performed—the truth has been proved—and it is time to exercise faith. When Moses hesitated to obey after a series of miracles at the burning bush, “the LORD’s anger burned” (Exodus 4:14).

Also, it is nobler in God’s sight to believe without needing a miracle. Jesus visited the Samaritans, and “because of his words many more became believers” (John 4:41, emphasis added). Just a few verses later, Jesus rebukes the Galileans: “Unless you people see miraculous signs and wonders . . . you will never believe” (John 4:48). Unlike the Samaritans, the people of Galilee required signs and wonders.

2. Some people seek after signs and wonders because they do not believe the signs and wonders which have already been performed. The Pharisees of Matthew 12 were just such a lot. Jesus had been performing miracles for quite some time when a group of scribes and Pharisees came to Him with an insolent demand to see another sign. In response, Jesus condemned them as “wicked and adulterous” (Matthew 12:38-39).

They were “wicked” in that they refused to believe the signs and wonders Christ had already performed. “In spite of his wonders, they did not believe” (Psalm 78:32). Their hearts were hardened towards the truth, even after numerous public miracles. Nothing would make them believe; their hearts were as pharaoh’s, hardened after witnessing so many of Moses’ miracles in Egypt (Exodus 9:34-35).

They were “adulterous” in the spiritual sense, having left the true worship of God to follow a man-made set of rules and traditions. Not satisfied with the miracles Jesus was doing, they demanded something even greater. As commentator Matthew Barnes puts it, “They looked for signs of their own devising.” So entrenched was their rejection of Christ that, when later presented with the “sign of the prophet Jonah” (Christ’s resurrection, Matthew 12:39-40), they still would not believe.

3. Some people seek after signs and wonders because they seek an occasion to excuse their unbelief. There were people in Jesus’ day who “tested” Him by seeking a sign (Matthew 16:1; Luke 11:16). Since they specified that the sign be “from heaven,” they most likely wanted something spectacular, similar to Elijah’s calling down fire from the sky (1 Kings 18:38) or Isaiah’s causing the sun to reverse course (Isaiah 38:8). Probably, their “test” was designed to be something “too big” for Jesus to accomplish—they simply hoped He would attempt it and fail in the attempt.

4. Some people seek after signs and wonders because they are curious thrill-seekers. Like the crowds in John 6:2 and King Herod in Luke 23:8, they want to see something sensational, but they have no real desire to know the truth of Christ.

5. Some people seek after signs and wonders because they hope to get something for themselves. After Jesus fed the multitudes, a large crowd followed Him to the other side of Galilee. Jesus saw their true motivation, however, and rebuked it: “I tell you the truth, you are looking for me, not because you saw miraculous signs but because you ate the loaves and had your fill” (John 6:26). The crowd’s desire was not to know Christ or even to see more miracles; it was simply to fill their stomachs again.

Better than seeking after a new miracle is taking God at His Word. Simple faith is more pleasing to the Lord than a reliance on a dazzling sensory experience. “Jesus told him, ‘Because you have seen me, you have believed; blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed’” (John 20:29).

https://www.gotquestions.org/signs-and-wonders.html

A nice wall of words from gotquestions. Do they support our personal beliefs and will they be there at the throne to absolve us?

[Justin Adams]

9 hours ago, missmuffet said:

Simple faith is more pleasing to the Lord than a reliance on a dazzling sensory experience.

That is wrong. It is really sad that not only do some NOT believe in the Lord High God and the way He chose to reveal His love, but they consider that unbelief a virtue.

[enoob57]

One thing for sure what was happening then is not what is happing now... cause even the enemies could not deny the power that was shown

Matt 12:22-24

22 Then was brought unto him one possessed with a devil, blind, and dumb: and he healed him, insomuch that the blind and dumb both spake and saw.

23 And all the people were amazed, and said, Is not this the son of David?

24 But when the Pharisees heard it, they said, This fellow doth not cast out devils, but by Beelzebub the prince of the devils.
KJV
If they could have denied the miracle they would have but they could not for it was evident to the senses -not today however... or the children hospitals would be emptied out!