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Arnie and Fred discuss what is commonly known as The Great Commission which is related to Jesus final instructions to His apostles to go into all the world and make disciples of all nations in Matthew 28:18-20. We discuss what a disciple is as well as the meaning of "baptism" which was a part of the teaching they were to accomplish. The contents of Mark 16:15 and 16 are part of the discussion. Luke has a record of some of what the Lord told His apostles which included some of the Old Testament prophecies concerning Jesus, John also includes some of the commands given to them which we discuss. Jesus final words prior to His ascension in Acts 1:4-8 are noted where Jesus specified the area of their testimony.  

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Arnie and Fred continue the discussion of when the miraculous gifts in the New Testament ended, We again note that at the end of Mark 16 after the Lord ascended we are told that He worked with them as they preached the word confirming it with signs following. We discuss other passages that indicate the purpose of the miraculous gifts and their duration. We note that now we can know what the apostles preached by referring to the confirmed words in our New Testaments. The means that these miraculous gifts were conferred is discussed. Warnings of false teachers is noted as well as warnings against adding to or taking from the words they delivered.

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In the last study, Arnie and Fred discussed how God confirmed His word by the miracles, signs and wonders He gave to the apostles to use for that purpose, according to Mark 16:20. In this study, we will discuss what the Bible says about when those miracles ceased. We will see that the Bible tells us when that occurred. We note that Paul names the various miraculous spiritual gifts that the apostles possessed and that they passed on to some of the disciples in the first century. I 1 Corinthians 13, Paul notes that those miraculous gifts would cease when "that which is perfect is come" and he gives examples that support what he says. He does the same thing in his writings to the Ephesians in Ephesians 4:8-16. He notes the roles of responsibility of those first century disciples as they delivered gthe revelation. In this context, The temporary nature of the miraculous spiritual gifts as they were used in the first century is noted here and their end when the full faith was delivered. We discuss Acts 8:14-16 where we learned that these miraculous spiritual gifts were conferred by the laying on of the apostles hands. Finally, we discuss the fact that since the apostles all died in the first century after the complete New Testament was delivered and confirmed, the ability to confer those gifts ceased as well as the gifts possessed by the disciples.

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Arnie and Fred continue the discussion on how God confirmed His word. We note that Mark says in Mark 16 verse 20 that after the Lord ascended to heaven, the apostles went everywhere preaching the word and the Lord worked with them confirming the word with signs following. WE note the numerous passages that record the miracles that the apostles performed that confirmed their teaching and preaching. Peter healed diseases and cast out demons. Paul conferred the Holy Spirit upon the disciples in Ephesus and they spoke foreign languages they never learned. Paul raised Eutychus from the dead at Troas. Both Stephen and Philip are mentioned as performing miracles that conformed their teaching. Finally, we note that the Bible says that once the apostles and inspired disciples delivered and wrote down all of God's words in the first century, the age of miracles ended.

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Understanding that the Bible is God's complete word and the fact Jesus says in John 12:48 that we will be judged by His words, we need to know how God confirmed or certified those words as being from Him and reliable. Jesus tells us in Mark 16:20 that the apostles went everywhere preaching the word and the Lord worked with them confirming the word with signs following. Fred and Arnie discuss these signs and miracles and show that God accompanied the delivery of His words throughout the Bible with miracles that verified that the words the men were providing came from God. The nature of various miracles described in the Old and New Testaments is discussed. Spiritual gifts that are recorded in the New Testament are noted as well as the means these were given to men. It is finally noted that the word of God having been completely revealed, documented in the Bible and miraculously confirmed, the age of miracles has now ended, according to the word of God.