Why the Baptism with the Holy Spirit is not for Today

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Jan 17, 2020
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Basic comprehension is totally lacking Dave.

Rev11
The Two Witnesses
11 Then I was given a reed like a measuring rod. And the angel stood, saying, “Rise and measure the temple of God, the altar, and those who worship there. 2 But leave out the court which is outside the temple, and do not measure it, for it has been given to the Gentiles. And they will tread the holy city underfoot for forty-two months. 3 And I will give power to my two witnesses, and they will prophesy one thousand two hundred and sixty days, clothed in sackcloth.”
4 These are the two olive trees and the two lampstands standing before the God of the earth. 5 And if anyone wants to harm them, fire proceeds from their mouth and devours their enemies. And if anyone wants to harm them, he must be killed in this manner. 6 These have power to shut heaven, so that no rain falls in the days of their prophecy; and they have power over waters to turn them to blood, and to strike the earth with all plagues, as often as they desire.
The Witnesses Killed
7 When they finish their testimony, the beast that ascends out of the bottomless pit will make war against them, overcome them, and kill them. 8 And their dead bodies will lie in the street of the great city which spiritually is called Sodom and Egypt, where also our Lord was crucified. 9 Then those from the peoples, tribes, tongues, and nations will see their dead bodies three-and-a-half days, and not allow their dead bodies to be put into graves. 10 And those who dwell on the earth will rejoice over them, make merry, and send gifts to one another, because these two prophets tormented those who dwell on the earth.
The Witnesses Resurrected
11 Now after the three-and-a-half days the breath of life from God entered them, and they stood on their feet, and great fear fell on those who saw them. 12 And they heard a loud voice from heaven saying to them, “Come up here.” And they ascended to heaven in a cloud, and their enemies saw them. 13 In the same hour there was a great earthquake, and a tenth of the city fell. In the earthquake seven thousand people were killed, and the rest were afraid and gave glory to the God of heaven.
What are your references?
 
Jan 17, 2020
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Just gave you the actual passage. These are two individuals. Plain to see.
Revelation is a book of symbols. Is the red dragon literal? Or the Serpent? The pale horse? If you take it literally you will never see it fulfilled. But if you understand what the symbols mean, it has been a continuing fulfillment since the first century.
 
Mar 28, 2016
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The Baptism was the credentials for being an apostle. It came with his appointment by Christ. Only they had the Baptism with signs and wonders. Along with those in the gentile outpouring. And those the Apostles appointed through the laying on of their hands. If the Baptism were for all, today, every church would have nothing but apostles.
Being "sent" by God is the "one" credential for being an apostle. If a person has a desire to share the gospel and they do .That defines the word apostle. There are many apostles that visit this forum and share prophecy..

Many add new meaning to that word and destroy the foundation . the Old testament saint were sent as prophets declaring the word.

Adding new meaning to a word can change the intent of the author. The Spirit of Christ I believe protects the integrity of His word .

Now therefore hearken, O Israel, unto the statutes and unto the judgments, which I teach you, for to do them, that ye may live, and go in and possess the land which the Lord God of your fathers giveth you.Ye shall not add unto the word (singular) which I command you, neither shall ye diminish ought from it,(singular) that ye may keep the commandments (plural) of the Lord your God which I command you. Deuteronomy 4:1-2

God is still sending people to hear the gospel . . . as the two witnesses of God . . . .All things written in the law and the prophets .(sola scriptura)

Those who follow after the commandments of men as a law of the fathers. Also called the oral tradition of men. They tried to kill the two prophets by silencing the gospel . But they knew they would be shooting their own feet making them the lame as false sent ones. (apostles)

Sola scriptura performed its work and turned those who served a law of men (law of the fathers) They walked away in unbelief, no faith as it is written

For we have found this man a pestilent fellow, and a mover of sedition among all the Jews throughout the world, and a ringleader of the sect of the Nazarenes: Who also hath gone about to profane the temple: whom we took, and would have judged according to our law. (law of men) Acts 24:5-6

Paul went from a false apostle to one true by the finger of faith putting a little light on the gospel road.

Previously as Saul and the law of the fathers it as a pagan foundation moved men to kill the Christians. It turned the inspiration standpoint upside down taking away the inspiration from above and gave it to the earthy fathers as oral traditon of men .

Paul as a true sent one worshipped the God of the fathers .Unlike before he worshiped the fathers as God . . . our father in heaven .

Neither can they prove the things whereof they now accuse me. But this I confess unto thee, that after the way which they "call heresy", so worship I the God of my fathers, believing all things which are written in the law and in the prophets:Acts 24:13-14

Jesus called that idea of worshipping/ venerating those who lord it over another person's belief / faith. One of the "think not" doctrines. Like. . . Don't give a it a thought .God is not a man as us.

Matthew 3:9 And think not to say within yourselves, We have Abraham to our father: for I say unto you, that God is able of these stones to raise up children unto Abraham.

1 Peter 2:5 Ye also, as lively stones, are built up a spiritual house, an holy priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices, acceptable to God by Jesus Christ.
 
Jan 17, 2020
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Being "sent" by God is the "one" credential for being an apostle. If a paerson has a desire to share the gospel and they do .That defines the word apostle. Many add new meaning to that word and destroy the foundation . the Old testament saint were sent as prophets declaring the word.

Adding new meaning to a word can change the intent of the author. The Spirit of Christ I believe protects the integrity of His word .

Now therefore hearken, O Israel, unto the statutes and unto the judgments, which I teach you, for to do them, that ye may live, and go in and possess the land which the Lord God of your fathers giveth you.Ye shall not add unto the word (singular) which I command you, neither shall ye diminish ought from it,(singular) that ye may keep the commandments (plural) of the Lord your God which I command you. Deuteronomy 4:1-2

God is still sending people to hear the gospel . . . as the two witnesses of God . . . .All things written in the law and the prophets .(sola scriptura)

Those who follow after the commandments of men as a law of the fathers. Also called the oral tradition of men. They tried to kill the two prophets by silencing the gospel . But they knew they would be shooting their own feet making them the lame as false sent ones. (apostles)

Sola scriptura performed its work and turned those who served a law of men (law of the fathers) They walked away in unbelief, no faith as it is written

For we have found this man a pestilent fellow, and a mover of sedition among all the Jews throughout the world, and a ringleader of the sect of the Nazarenes: Who also hath gone about to profane the temple: whom we took, and would have judged according to our law. (law of men) Acts 24:5-6

Paul went from a false apostle to one true by the finger of faith putting a little light on the gospel road.

Previously as Saul and the law of the fathers it as a pagan foundation moved men to kill the Christians. It turned the inspiration standpoint upside down taking away the inspiration from above and gave it to the earthy fathers as oral traditon of men .

Paul as a true sent one worshipped the God of the fathers .Unlike before he worshiped the fathers as God . . . our father in heaven .

Neither can they prove the things whereof they now accuse me. But this I confess unto thee, that after the way which they "call heresy", so worship I the God of my fathers, believing all things which are written in the law and in the prophets:Acts 24:13-14

Jesus called that idea of worshipping/ venerating those who lord it over another person's belief / faith. One of the "think not" doctrines. Like. . . Don't give a it a thought .God is not a man as us.

Matthew 3:9 And think not to say within yourselves, We have Abraham to our father: for I say unto you, that God is able of these stones to raise up children unto Abraham.

1 Peter 2:5 Ye also, as lively stones, are built up a spiritual house, an holy priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices, acceptable to God by Jesus Christ.
“How shall we escape, if we neglect so great salvation; which at the first began to be spoken by the Lord, and was confirmed unto us by them that heard him; God also bearing them witness, both with signs and wonders, and with divers miracles, and gifts of the Holy Ghost, according to his own will?” Hebrews 2:3–4 (KJV 1900)
 
Mar 28, 2016
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“How shall we escape, if we neglect so great salvation; which at the first began to be spoken by the Lord, and was confirmed unto us by them that heard him; God also bearing them witness, both with signs and wonders, and with divers miracles, and gifts of the Holy Ghost, according to his own will?” Hebrews 2:3–4 (KJV 1900)
You have not defined the word apostle .So how can we discus its usage ?

What's the question? Do we make the apostles into gods in the likeness of men? Or follow the example of the sent ones. Cry out blasphemy?

Its the unseen work of the gospel we walk by faith the eternal not seen not by looking at the corrupted flesh as those who do eulogize it for self edification, a lying wonderment . .

And there they preached the gospel. And there sat a certain man at Lystra, impotent in his feet, being a cripple from his mother's womb, who never had walked:The same heard Paul speak: who stedfastly beholding him, and perceiving that he had faith to be healed,Said with a loud voice, Stand upright on thy feet. And he leaped and walked. And when the people saw what Paul had done, they lifted up their voices, saying in the speech of Lycaonia, The gods are come down to us in the likeness of men. And they called Barnabas, Jupiter; and Paul, Mercurius, because he was the chief speaker. Then the priest of Jupiter, which was before their city, brought oxen and garlands unto the gates, and would have done sacrifice with the people. Which when the apostles, Barnabas and Paul, heard of, they rent their clothes, and ran in among the people, crying out, Acts 14:7-14
 
Jan 17, 2020
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You have not defined the word apostle .So how can we discus its usage ?

What's the question? Do we make the apostles into gods in the likeness of men? Or follow the example of the sent ones. Cry out blasphemy?

Its the unseen work of the gospel we walk by faith the eternal not seen not by looking at the corrupted flesh as those who do eulogize it for self edification, a lying wonderment . .

And there they preached the gospel. And there sat a certain man at Lystra, impotent in his feet, being a cripple from his mother's womb, who never had walked:The same heard Paul speak: who stedfastly beholding him, and perceiving that he had faith to be healed,Said with a loud voice, Stand upright on thy feet. And he leaped and walked. And when the people saw what Paul had done, they lifted up their voices, saying in the speech of Lycaonia, The gods are come down to us in the likeness of men. And they called Barnabas, Jupiter; and Paul, Mercurius, because he was the chief speaker. Then the priest of Jupiter, which was before their city, brought oxen and garlands unto the gates, and would have done sacrifice with the people. Which when the apostles, Barnabas and Paul, heard of, they rent their clothes, and ran in among the people, crying out, Acts 14:7-14
If a cat does cat things, don't they define what cats are?
 
Mar 28, 2016
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If a cat does cat things, don't they define what cats are?
If a lamb does the things of a lamb don't they define what lambs are used to represent. . . the unseen ?

Define the word apostle?
 
Jan 17, 2020
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If a lamb does the things of a lamb don't they define what lambs are used to represent. . . the unseen ?

Define the word apostle?

APOSTLE. An apostle in the NT is an envoy, an ambassador, or a missionary. In the NT the term “apostle” is applied to one who carries the message of the gospel.

A. Definition and Origin
B. Apostles as Missionaries
C. Jesus’ Disciples as Apostles
D. Paul as Apostle of the Gentiles
E. False Apostles
F. Christ as Apostle

A. Definition and Origin
The early Christian title of apostle, although well attested in the NT and other early Christian sources, presents a number of still unresolved problems. The noun “apostle” (apostolos) is originally an adjective derived from the verb apostellō (“send”), found in the NT with a considerable range of meanings. The basic concept is that of the sending of messengers or envoys; an apostle can also be called angelos (“messenger,” e.g., Luke 7:24; 9:52) or kērux (“herald,” e.g., 1 Tim 2:7, 2 Tim 1:11; cf. Mark 1:45; 2 Cor 5:20). Apostles can be human or divine, sent by human or divine authorities.
The original adjective apostolos is attested only infrequently in Greek literature, referring to an envoy or a bearer of a message in a general sense (e.g., Herodotus 1.21; Plato, Ep. 7.346a). This technical meaning conforms to the Aramaic selı̂aḥ (Ezra 7:14; Dan 5:24; cf. 2 Chr 17:7–9; for references and bibliography, see Spicq, 1982). In the Hellenistic era, the concept of the divine envoy was applied by Epictetus to the ideal cynic (Diss. 3.22.3; 4.8.31), but the term apostolos does not occur. Christianity, therefore, appears to have picked a secular term and made it into a specific office and title.
In addition to evidencing a bewildering range of applications of the title of apostle, the NT and the early patristic literature also attempt to define it. Since scholarship is still divided on many of the questions, the following definitions must be seen as part of the argument and not as final answers.
The basic definition given by Origen (Jo. 32.17, ed. Preuschen 1903: 453, line 17) is simple: “Everyone who is sent by someone is an apostle of the one who sent him.” The concept involves legal and administrative aspects and is basic to all types of representatives, envoys, and ambassadors. In the area of Christian religion, the term “apostle” can refer to a messenger, human or divine, sent by God or Christ to reveal messages or to reveal the message of the gospel. Origen’s definition, although later, is grounded in the NT itself; e.g., John 13:16: “Truly, truly I say to you, a servant is not greater than his master; nor is he who is sent greater than the one who sent him” (cf. also Matt 10:40–42; Gal 4:14). More specific is the definition given in Acts 1:21–22, according to which an apostle must be “one of the men who have accompanied us during all the time that the Lord Jesus went in and out among us, beginning from the baptism of John until the day when he was taken up from us …” Paul mentions (2 Cor 12:12; cf. Rom 15:19; Acts 5:12) the practice of the apostle legitimating himself by “the signs of the apostle” (ta sēmeia tou apostolou): i.e., “by signs and miracles and wondrous deeds.” In the Petrine traditions, the task of the apostle is seen as transmitting the words of the prophets and of Jesus to the church (2 Pet 3:2; cf. the prophetic function of the apostles in Jude 17). Paul did not conform to any of these definitions, a fact that explains his position as an outsider and the difficulties he had obtaining recognition.


Betz, H. D. (1992). Apostle. In D. N. Freedman (Ed.), The Anchor Yale Bible Dictionary (Vol. 1, p. 309). New York: Doubleday.
 

Jackson123

Senior Member
Feb 6, 2014
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Revelation is a book of symbols. Is the red dragon literal? Or the Serpent? The pale horse? If you take it literally you will never see it fulfilled. But if you understand what the symbols mean, it has been a continuing fulfillment since the first century.
Not all word in revelation are symbol

Example rev1

1 The Revelation of Jesus Christ, which God gave unto him, to shew unto his servants things which must shortly come to pass; and he sent and signified it by his angel unto his servant John:

The word Jesus Christ in this. verse is not a symbol

The word of God symbol of what.

How about the word angel is It a symbol?
 

presidente

Senior Member
May 29, 2013
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Chrismation

As it still is today, and has been for thousands of years. That having been said, it is the universal testimony of the fathers of the church that the gift of tongues was the miraculous ability to speak a foreign language and it ceased very early in church history.

Miracles - such as the return of the Holy Fire to Jesus tomb at the Holy Sepulcher every Pentecost - do occur, but they are not designed to validate any individual‘s specific ministry or title as apostle or prophet .

I have read lists of references to quotes that show speaking in tongues showing up at least sporadically throughout church history. Around 200, Irenaeus listed it among manifestations that occurred among the brethren in his day along with healing, prophesying, etc.

If you are Eastern Orthodox, I am surprised that you would say that any of these gifts ceased. Usually the comments on this topic I have encountered are that the gifts belong to the church or that some monks and holy saints experience such things.
 

presidente

Senior Member
May 29, 2013
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Lots of hearsay. But no first hand witnesses.
Read Irenaeus for an example. Eusebius quotes him.

The Spirit and the Church: Antiquity by Burgess contains a number of quotes from the so-called 'church fathers.'

Like I said earlier, Warfield, who wrote his unbiblically-supported theory, at least knew he had to wrestle with the fact that Irenaeus contradicted his theory. A cessionist author in the 1800's asserted that there was no evidence for some of these gifts after the apostles, and many cessationist authors who did not bother to do the research repeated him.

There is also a book, a master's thesis, from the 1800's called __The Supressed Evidence__ that was available on Google Books the last I checked. I think it was a free read, too. Most of it is in English. If your French, Dutch, and Latin is up to par, you can read all the quotes, too.

I haven't gotten around to reading _Miracles_ yet by Keener, who wrote against Hume's thesis that miracles aren't real because they do not conform to human experience by citing numerous accounts of miracles throughout the ages and various accounts of contemporary miracles.

But it seems like you are basing doctrine on experience, or a lack thereof.
 

Chris1975

Senior Member
Apr 27, 2017
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Revelation is a book of symbols. Is the red dragon literal? Or the Serpent? The pale horse? If you take it literally you will never see it fulfilled. But if you understand what the symbols mean, it has been a continuing fulfillment since the first century.
Then you should be quite happy to do a LINE BY LINE explanation of Revelation 11v1-13. Give it a go !
 

presidente

Senior Member
May 29, 2013
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The Acts 1 requirements were to replace Judas, and the term 'apostle' was applied a bit more broadly, since it applies to Paul, who did not meet the requirements. We also see it used in reference to Barnabas, Silas, and Timothy, we do not know if Barnabas or Silas met those requirements, and it would be extremely unlikely that Timothy met them.
 
Jan 17, 2020
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Then you should be quite happy to do a LINE BY LINE explanation of Revelation 11v1-13. Give it a go !
The two witness = the Church. The outer court = the tares among them.

The setting is the New Covenant era.And their death and resurrection on the last day. After the loosing of Satan in Revelation 20.

11:15 = New Heavens and Earth.
 
Jan 17, 2020
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Read Irenaeus for an example. Eusebius quotes him.

The Spirit and the Church: Antiquity by Burgess contains a number of quotes from the so-called 'church fathers.'

Like I said earlier, Warfield, who wrote his unbiblically-supported theory, at least knew he had to wrestle with the fact that Irenaeus contradicted his theory. A cessionist author in the 1800's asserted that there was no evidence for some of these gifts after the apostles, and many cessationist authors who did not bother to do the research repeated him.

There is also a book, a master's thesis, from the 1800's called __The Supressed Evidence__ that was available on Google Books the last I checked. I think it was a free read, too. Most of it is in English. If your French, Dutch, and Latin is up to par, you can read all the quotes, too.

I haven't gotten around to reading _Miracles_ yet by Keener, who wrote against Hume's thesis that miracles aren't real because they do not conform to human experience by citing numerous accounts of miracles throughout the ages and various accounts of contemporary miracles.

But it seems like you are basing doctrine on experience, or a lack thereof.
But it's all hearsay. Not one claims it of himself.