125 - Signs, Wonders, Tongues and the Kingdom of God [B]

Signs, Wonders, Tongues and the Kingdom of God
Acts 19:8

Cessation of the sign gifts. That terminology may be unfamiliar to some but it is terminology that has developed in academic circles over the last twenty years is cessation versus non-cessation. Cessation means that you believe the so-called sign gifts and tongues have been ended, they ceased sometime in the first century. And non-cessationists are not always Charismatic. There are people who have varying beliefs on these issues.

There is a lot of confusion today on the subject of the kingdom of God. Most evangelical Christians think that we are in some form of the kingdom today; that we are in an already-not-yet kingdom, that in some way the kingdom came in and was inaugurated on the day of Pentecost when the Holy Spirit descended. There are different ways in which this is expressed but they all believe that some form of the kingdom has been inaugurated but it is not fully here yet, and it won't be here in its fullest expression until Jesus returns. This is really a total misconception of the kingdom.

Dispensationalism is the result of being biblical. You don't impose your theology on the text. That is very important in terms of method, and too many people use their theology to interpret the Bible. That is what Satan does, so don't do it. We have to interpret the text and what the text says then informs our theology; we don't use our theology to interpret the text.

Acts 19:8 ^NASB "And he entered the synagogue and continued speaking out boldly for three months, reasoning and persuading {them} about the kingdom of God."

Luke doesn't have to tell us what he is saying about the kingdom of God because he made these things clear in the earliest part of Acts. The big issue for Jews was, "Repent for the kingdom of God is at hand." This is the second offer of the kingdom that is being made to the Jewish people. That is why Paul is going to the Jew first and also to the Greek. Understanding this kingdom message is so important and it is not well understood and well taught.

What is Paul teaching about the kingdom of God? He is teaching the same thing that Peter taught in Acts 2—that the Jewish people needed to repent. They need to turn back to God. The language comes from Deuteronomy 30 when God told the Jewish people that after they had been dispersed and scattered throughout all the nations, at some point after all of that they would turn back to God and He would restore them to the land. This goes back to the message of John the Baptist: "Repent for the kingdom of heaven is at hand." Jesus came along and said the same message: "Repent for the kingdom of heaven is at hand." The disciples had the same message: "Repent for the kingdom of heaven is at hand." And what happened? The Jewish people and the leadership rejected that. Many Jews accepted Christ as the Messiah. They were a minority even though they were a large minority. Then the kingdom was postponed and from the mid-point of Jesus' ministry on there is no longer an emphasis on the kingdom offer. The emphasis is on training His disciples for the post-resurrection ministry that will go into the church age. But once He was resurrected He taught the disciples for a period of forty days before the ascension. What did He teach them in those forty days in Acts chapter one? He taught them about the kingdom of God.

From the first chapter to the last chapter of Acts there is an emphasis on the kingdom of God. And it is foundationally related to this phrase "to the Jew first" because it flows out of the gospel. But there is a second offer of the kingdom.

Some people are confused because they think, "Wasn't it already inevitable that Israel will go through judgment and the destruction of Jerusalem in AD 70?" Yes, it was inevitable. But if they had responded to the offer the church age would have just been truncated, made short. It still would have been there but if the Jews had responded and called upon the name of the Lord to come and delivered them, He would have. It just would have been a very short time between the first advent and the second.

But there is obviously this postponement of the kingdom and something new is happening that is bringing in the Gentiles. One of the things that is important in understanding Matthew is that Matthew is writing in part to explain to his Jewish Christian audience in about 50 AD the reason that the kingdom is being postponed. He goes through all of the Old Testament passages to show that Jesus is indeed the son of David, that the kingdom is being postponed, Gentiles are being included, why this is happening and what the issues are, and to confirm them in their faith. This goes all the way through Acts. It is a major theme in the apostolic period. It relates to what we term the transition because the temple is still standing. Because the temple is still standing and because Israel is still in the land this is an emphasis in the message that was there then in that transitional period. But that message ceases by the mid-sixties. By the beginning of the Jewish revolt sometime around 65-67 that offer of the kingdom to the Jews stops, and some other things stop along with it.

When there is a message preaching and proclaiming the kingdom, what goes along with that message? Signs and wonders! There was this outbreak of miracles when Jesus showed up on the scene, when John the Baptist showed up on the scene, when the disciples showed up on the scene, all proclaiming the message of the kingdom. There was an outbreak of miracles and signs and wonders, and the purpose is not simply the validate the claims of the Messiah but to give a foretaste, a preview of coming attractions in relation to the King and the kingdom. This helps to understand why in the book of Acts there continues to be this outbreak of miraculous activity. Healing, signs and wonders, various miracles, along with the casting out of demons and speaking in tongues all fit together. What was it Paul said? "The Jew seeks for a sign," in 1 Corinthians chapter two. What were the Jews doing? They were getting a sign. All of these are signs of the kingdom.

In Acts 19:11 we see that God worked unusual miracles by the hand of Paul. [12] "so that handkerchiefs or aprons [sweat cloth] were even carried from his body to the sick, and the diseases left them and the evil spirits went out." Then we are going to get into a section dealing with the false exorcists in vv. 13-20.

What is the context? He is teaching about the kingdom, and what is going on with his teaching about the kingdom? Signs and wonders, healing, miracles. All of these things are taking place.

What is the kingdom of God?

The kingdom of God refers to the literal earthly reign of the Messiah, the greater son of David, from His throne in Jerusalem. It is a literal geographical kingdom established on the earth, focused in Jerusalem where the Messiah personally reigns over the planet. This reign will last 1000 years, according to Revelation 20:1-6, so we also refer to it as the Millennial Kingdom. Millennium as a name identifies its length and messianic emphasizes its nature. It is the rule of the Messiah upon the earth.

We have a chart for understanding the how the kingdom of God is used in the Bible. Sometimes we refer to it as the universal sovereign reign of God, and that is one way in which it is used in the Old Testament. Then for the New Testament we have a dispensational timeline, staring with Eden at the very beginning, Mount Sinai and the giving of the Law (the age of Israel), then the section just prior to the cross which is the age of the Messiah, the age of the kingdom. It is the precursor. What defines it is the message, and the message is that the King is at hand and the kingdom is there because the King is there. Then that is followed by the church age. So at the beginning is what is referred top as the theocratic reign (God-rule). Then there was the theocratic kingdom—God ruling through Israel. Then comes the mysteries of the kingdom—not a mystery form of the kingdom. There is no such word in Matthew 13 where we have the parables. The parables are related to the mysteries of the kingdom, i.e. previously unrevealed truth related to the kingdom. It is all about the inter-advent age, describing what was not revealed in the Old Testament, that there would be an age that comes between the first and second coming of Christ. Then we have the millennial messianic kingdom that leads into the eternal theocratic kingdom which is in the new heavens and the new earth.

So the kingdom of God is the messianic rule of the greater son of David, Jesus Christ, from David's throne in Jerusalem.      

The establishment of the kingdom is related to three factors. First of all there is a King, a specific King, a Davidic King, a descendant of David who has the royal lineage behind Him in fulfillment of the Davidic covenant. We see that emphasized in Matthew. Second, a land to rule over. This is why there is a second covenant, a land covenant. For there to be a kingdom there has to be a domain—the land. Then, a people over whom to reign. They need to be a regenerate people who have a new heart. That is related to the New covenant.

The kingdom is related to four biblical covenants: the Abrahamic covenant, the land covenant, the Davidic covenant and the New covenant. These are permanent covenants, we often refer to them as unconditional, i.e. God is the only one who has bound Himself to the fulfillment of those covenants. But even within those covenants there are often conditions, not on the permanence of the covenant but if the blessing is to be received there has to be obedience. A better term comes out of Hebrews, which is a permanent covenant. 

In the Old Testament we have promises. These promises are fulfilled in the future. We have the Abrahamic covenant which promises Abraham land, seed and blessing. The land is further developed in the land of real estate covenant and that is fulfilled only at the second coming. There is the Davidic covenant which is fulfilled only at the second coming, and then there is the New covenant which is fulfilled at the second coming.

Each of these covenants is developed historically. In other words, the land covenant is given in Deuteronomy and it forms a foundation for things said later in the Davidic (1000 BC) and New (600 BC) covenants. You can't take principles and promises related to a later covenant and read them back into an earlier covenant. They are part of the progress of revelation, so we have to take these things as they are revealed by God over the course of time. Part of the reason this is important is the nature of the Davidic covenant, which is related to the King and the way things will be in the kingdom because of the messianic King. When the messianic King is ruling over the messianic kingdom then that means that Satan has been defeated and there will be healing, the blind will be given sight, the lame will walk, the demons will be cast out. And this is why when Jesus comes at the first advent He does these things. He is the King and He is giving them a foretaste of what it will be like when the kingdom is fully present. The New covenant focuses on the eternal spiritual character of the people. God is going to give them a new heart and He is going to give them His Spirit. No one is going to need to teach each other about the Word, everyone will know it. And it is specifically given to Israel, not to the Gentiles; it is given to the house of Israel and the house of Judah. So each of these covenants have different aspects and different features.  

Among so-called progressive dispensationalists is the attempt to have the Davidic covenant begin on the day of Pentecost, along with the New covenant. With the Davidic covenant if you have it begin then you don't have an argument against cessation. The progressive dispensationalists undercut themselves.

The Davidic covenant is given in 2 Samuel 7:11-14 and 1 Chronicles 17:10-15. The promise is to the messianic throne—the Messiah's throne, His house and kingdom, that they will be established forever. It comes out of the Abrahamic covenant (land, seed and blessing): the land covenant (Deuteronomy 30), the Davidic covenant (Seed: 2 Samuel 7), the New covenant (Blessing: Jeremiah 31).

The Davidic covenant focuses on the King and the character of the kingdom. What is Paul talking about? What is Peter talking about in Acts? The kingdom. The New covenant is talking about the character of the people in the kingdom. They are given a new heart and the Spirit of God is placed within them. In the Davidic covenant we have the promise of an eternal house. This is a term related to an eternal dynasty. There is an eternal kingdom and an eternal throne. Dwight Pentecost says that the term "an eternal house" refers to David's physical descendants. It is a dynastic thing, an eternal house. But it ends in someone who is eternal. The term throne, he says, refers not so much to the material throne on which David sat as to the right to rule. The term kingdom has to do with the political dimension of His rule over the kingdom.

NB: These elements define the lineage, character and rule of the messianic King in terms of His government on the earth and His people. It does not describe the spiritual characteristics of the kingdom. The Davidic covenant defines the lineage of the King (from David), the character of the King, and the rule of the kingdom. It is a righteous rule. So the nature of the Davidic covenant is primarily focused on the earthly and the physical. The kingdom is in a geopolitical sphere in a specific location. The Davidic kingdom is earthly and physical. The New covenant is focusing on the spiritual nature of the inhabitants of the kingdom and the spiritual blessings of the kingdom.

All of the covenants to Israel come into fulfillment at the same time when the messianic or millennial kingdom comes into existence at the second coming. What is important about this is that when the prophets in the Old Testament 2500-3000 years before the kingdom comes were talking about one or another covenant they are looking far off into the distant future. And they are describing characteristics of the kingdom and not distinguishing necessarily in every passage what characteristics are related to what covenant. In fact, Jeremiah is the one who first introduces the terminology of the New covenant. He writes around 605-596 BC.

Isaiah is written around 150 years before there is any mention of a New covenant. He describes features that will be part of the New covenant but the New covenant hasn't been identified yet. What he is really talking about is characteristics of the kingdom related to the Davidic King. Later on we realize that when the Davidic King comes that is the same time that the New covenant goes into effect. But all the aspects of the Davidic covenant relate to the nature and characteristics of the King and His kingdom as a physical earthly kingdom. That has to be kept separate from the New covenant aspects which relate to the spiritual and the internal spiritual nature of the people.

The Scriptures promises certain physical blessings which will come to pass when the kingdom is established. Pert of these physical characteristics are the people are healed. The lame walk, the blind see, the lepers are healed, demons are cast out. That is what is meant by physical blessings. Satan is cast out of the kingdom and bound in chains for a thousand years. This is all talking about the physical dimensions of the kingdom.

If you have the view that we are in some form of the kingdom now then you are going to have some form of the characteristics of the kingdom now.  A theologian at Trinity Evangelical Divinity school started a little syllogism that goes along with this, and he has set it forth this way:

Where the kingdom of God is present the healing of disease is present.

The minor premise is: The kingdom of God is present in this age in some way. Well if the kingdom of God is present in any way we ought to have the signs of the kingdom in some way. (That would be the charismatic gifts)

Therefore the healing of disease would be present in this age.

Therefore if there is any form of the kingdom today then there is no argument for the cessation of the sign gifts.

In Matthew 11 we have one of the long-distance conversations with John the Baptist which always confuses people.

Matthew 11:1 ^NASB "When Jesus had finished giving instructions to His twelve disciples, He departed from there to teach and preach in their cities. [2] Now when John, while imprisoned, heard of the works of Christ …" What has John heard about? He has heard about the signs and wonders, the healing, the blind being given sight, lepers being healed and the lame walking. "… he sent {word} by his disciples [3] and said to Him, 'Are You the Expected One, or shall we look for someone else?'"

The parallel passage is in Luke chapter seven and it gives a little more detail.

Luke 7:18 ^NASB "The disciples of John reported to him about all these things." What are the "all these things"? They are all the things that happen in the first seventeen verses of Luke 7. Jesus healed the centurion's servant. He raises the son of the widow and give shim life. What are we talking about here? We are talking about giving life to the dead and healing the sick. These are the signs of the Messiah, the signs of the kingdom.

When the disciples of John report to John all these things he knows these are the signs of the kingdom but he is confused. Remember that John is Jesus' cousin. John would have been told the stories of the miracle of His birth from his parents from the time he was little. He knew what his mission was as the announcer of the forerunner of the Messiah. He was the one who was there and baptized Jesus, and when he baptized Jesus God the Father spoke from heaven and said: "This is my beloved Son in whom I am well pleased." And the Holy Spirit descended on Him in the form of a dove. John saw all of that. But he is confused because not all of the signs of the kingdom are taking place.

Jesus is teaching about the kingdom. What is He teaching? Matthew 4:17 ^NASB "From that time Jesus began to preach and say, 'Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand' … [23] Jesus was going throughout all Galilee, teaching in their synagogues and proclaiming the gospel of the kingdom, and healing every kind of disease and every kind of sickness among the people."

In Matthew 11 all we are told is, "When Jesus had finished giving instructions to His twelve disciples, He departed from there to teach and preach." What was He teaching and preaching? Matthew doesn't tell us here, he has already told us half a dozen times that Jesus is teaching the kingdom. The rejection of Jesus doesn't come until chapter twelve so He is still offering the kingdom. Matthew 9:35 ^NASB "Jesus was going through all the cities and villages, teaching in their synagogues and proclaiming the gospel of the kingdom, and healing every kind of disease and every kind of sickness." Do you see a pattern here? When the kingdom is being proclaimed there is healing.

Matthew 10:7 ^NASB "And as you go, preach, saying, 'The kingdom of heaven is at hand.' [8] Heal {the} sick, raise {the} dead, cleanse {the} lepers, cast out demons…" Why is He telling them to do this? Because they are offering the kingdom. They are going to be demonstrating these previews of coming attractions. The kingdom is at hand because the King is present. Jesus is there, and so there is a foretaste of the kingdom, what He is offering.    

When John hears this he sends two of his disciples to enquire of Jesus: "Are you the coming one." The term "the coming one" is used four or five other times in the New Testament as a reference to Jesus and the fact that He is the Messiah. John knows the story of his birth and of Jesus' birth and His purpose, but something isn't going the way it should be going. John is hearing about the healings but he is not hearing about one particular thing. 

Isaiah 42:1 ^NASB "Behold, My Servant, whom I uphold; My chosen one {in whom} My soul delights. I have put My Spirit upon Him; He will bring forth justice to the nations. [2] He will not cry out or raise {His voice,} Nor make His voice heard in the street. [3] A bruised reed He will not break And a dimly burning wick He will not extinguish; He will faithfully bring forth justice. [4] He will not be disheartened or crushed Until He has established justice in the earth; And the coastlands will wait expectantly for His law."

All of this is describing the nature of His reign as the Davidic King in righteousness.   

Isaiah 42:5 ^NASB "Thus says God the LORD, Who created the heavens and stretched them out, Who spread out the earth and its offspring, Who gives breath to the people on it And spirit to those who walk in it, [6] I am the LORD, I have called You in righteousness …" Who is He talking to?  He is talking to the servant. He is giving His commissioning orders to the Servant. " … I will also hold You by the hand and watch over You, And I will appoint You as a covenant to the people …" This is a reference to the Davidic covenant and a promise to give a descendant of David to the people.  " … As a light to the nations, [7] To open blind eyes, To bring out prisoners from the dungeon And those who dwell in darkness from the prison."

If you were John the Baptist and were wallowing in a prison dungeon reading this verse you would think, "Great, He is raising the dead, healing the sick, the lame are walking. But wait a minute. Why isn't He getting the prisoners out of prison? Jesus, let me out of here. If this is the kingdom, why am I not being released?  

In Matthew 11 what does John hear about? He hears about the works of Christ. This is the only time in the book of Matthew where christos is used without iesous next to it. That is important. These are the kinds of things that go right past us because we don't see it. Matthew is emphasizing the Messiah and not His humanity at all. This is the only time Jesus is referred to simply by His title "the Messiah" – ho christos. 

So John mentions that he heard in prison about the works of Christ and sends tow of his disciples to enquire: "and said to Him, 'Are You the Expected One, or shall we look for someone else?'" Coming One or Expected One is a term seen in other passages, as in Mark 11:9; Luke 13:35; 19:38; Hebrews 10:37. 

What does Jesus tell them?

Matthew 11:4 ^NASB "Jesus answered and said to them, 'Go and report to John what you hear and see: [5] {the} BLIND RECEIVE SIGHT and {the} lame walk, {the} lepers are cleansed and {the} deaf hear, {the} dead are raised up, and {the} POOR HAVE THE GOSPEL PREACHED TO THEM." Of those only the last one is related to the spiritual. The rest are related to the physical. He is fulfilling the Davidic covenant, the Davidic promise of a Davidic King who when He comes is going to bring healing to Israel.

Isaiah 29:18 ^NASB "On that day the deaf will hear words of a book, And out of {their} gloom and darkness the eyes of the blind will see."

Isaiah 33:24 ^NASB "And no resident will say, "I am sick"; The people who dwell there will be forgiven {their} iniquity."

Isaiah 35:5 ^NASB "Then the eyes of the blind will be opened And the ears of the deaf will be unstopped. [6] Then the lame will leap like a deer, And the tongue of the mute will shout for joy. For waters will break forth in the wilderness And streams in the Arabah."

This is all physical. This isn't talking about the indwelling of the Holy Spirit, regeneration and putting the Law of God in their hearts. That is the New covenant; this is the Davidic covenant. It is all related to the presence of the Davidic King.

Isaiah 61:1 ^NASB "The Spirit of the Lord GOD is upon me, Because the LORD has anointed me To bring good news to the afflicted; He has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, To proclaim liberty to captives And freedom to prisoners."

In Matthew 11:4 Jesus says to go and tell John the things which you hear and see. The kingdom isn't in its fullest expression in Jesus, it is just a shadow, a preview of coming attractions. Then Matthew quotes and summarizes from Isaiah. In verse 6, "And blessed is he who does not take offense at Me." In other words, the kingdom is not here in its fullest expression so if I don't heal you or deliver you from prison don't let that knock you off track. This is the confusing thought that John the Baptist had. He thought that because he wasn't being let out of prison how could Jesus be the messianic King? The messianic King was supposed to deliver the prisoners. But Jesus is saying, don't let that be a stumbling block to you because I am not doing everything here and bringing in the kingdom unless the people accept me.

Though the King and the kingdom were present, it was not completely present. For example, the liberation of the captives wasn't taking place. All that was being seen was a preview of coming attractions.

Matthew chapter twelve deals with the rejection of Jesus by the Pharisees. It comes to a conclusion because the Pharisees are saying that when Jesus has cast this demon out He is really doing it by the power of Satan. Beelzebub is a term used to describe the devil.

Matthew 12:28 "But if I cast out demons by the Spirit of God, then the kingdom of God has come upon you." 

As they see Him cast out this demon they are amazed. Matthew 12:23 ^NASB "All the crowds were amazed, and were saying, 'This man cannot be the Son of David, can he?'" The way they form it in the Greek indicates that they expect a negative answer: No, this couldn't be the son of David.  Their resistance to Jesus' message is beginning to waver and so the Pharisees come along and say that this can't be the son of David, He is doing this in the power of the devil.

Jesus answers them with basically three lines of defense. First of all He says that the accusation of the Pharisees wouldn't hold water because it is impossible for a kingdom or even a family to exist which is divided against itself. Matthew 12:25 ^NASB "And knowing their thoughts Jesus said to them, 'Any kingdom divided against itself is laid waste; and any city or house divided against itself will not stand.'"

Then He points out in verse 27, "If I by Beelzebul cast out demons, by whom do your sons cast {them} out? For this reason they will be your judges." He is basically saying that if other exorcists cast out demons and the Pharisees say that that is done by divine power, then they are going to have a problem.

The third reply is seen in Matthew 12:28 ^NASB "But if I cast out demons by the Spirit of God, then the kingdom of God has come upon you." He makes the inference that if He is casting out demons then the kingdom of God is present. This takes us to a key word here, phthano, which means to arrive. It is not approaching, it is not near; it is present. Jesus is saying that the kingdom of God is here. And it is there because of the King. The King is there and the characteristics of the kingdom are present because the King is there. This is also reinforced by the use of the preposition in the statement.

So Jesus' miracles not only give evidence of who He is as deity but the miracles reveal the presence of the kingdom. They are signs of the kingdom. So when the Messiah comes Satan will be vanquished, the dead will be raised, sickness will be vanquished, there will be healing and no more illness. Victory over the demons gives evidence that the messianic King is present. 

That offer is rejected and the kingdom is postponed. But there is a second offer of the kingdom that comes along. That is what we have been seeing in Acts. So as long as there is still an offer of the kingdom the kingdom message is still going to be accompanied by the signs of the kingdom—by the signs, by the miracles, by the healings. This is what we have seen with Peter raising the dead, with Philip, with the disciples and with Paul. And as long as there is an emphasis on the kingdom, which is an offer to the Jews (the Jews are looking for a sign), the sign gifts and the signs of the kingdom are present. This goes up until about 66 or 67 (we can't pin-point it) when the Jewish revolt has taken place, and then the destruction of the temple is inevitable. At that point there is no more emphasis on the kingdom of God. It disappears; it is not there in the epistles.

1 Corinthians 13 is where we see the central passage on the cessation of tongues. But it is wrapped around a statement in vv. 8, 9 of two other gifts—prophecy will be abolished and knowledge will be abolished. Prophecy and knowledge both have the same verb in the Greek; they are both abolished. But tongues has a different verb. Tongues will cease.

People always debate about why there is a different verb here. It is because prophecy and knowledge are both partial.  

1 Corinthians 13:10 ^NASB "but when the perfect comes, the partial will be done away.

Prophecy and knowledge are going to be abolished but tongues will cease. When the perfect comes that is the end of prophecy and knowledge. The perfect refers to the completed canon of Scripture. But tongues isn't abolished by the coming of the perfect. Everybody misreads that. You have to pay attention to the text. The completed canon doesn't occur until about AD 90. But I believe tongues already ended and the reason it had already ended was because of its purpose.

The purpose is stated in 1 Corinthians 14:21, 22 ^NASB "In the Law it is written, "BY MEN OF STRANGE TONGUES AND BY THE LIPS OF STRANGERS I WILL SPEAK TO THIS PEOPLE, AND EVEN SO THEY WILL NOT LISTEN TO ME," says the Lord. So then tongues are for a sign, not to those who believe but to unbelievers; but prophecy {is for a sign,} not to unbelievers but to those who believe."

Tongues were a sign for unbelieving Jews. The prophecy in Isaiah 28:11, 12 is emphasizing that as part of the fifth cycle of discipline the Jews are going to hear spiritual things in Gentile languages. It is not that they are going to be evangelized, that is not its purpose. Tongues isn't really designed to give revelation. It might have given something revelatory on occasion and might have even included the gospel, but it was the fact that Jews heard spiritual revelatory truth given in a Gentile language instead of Hebrew that judgment was coming. Because from the time of God's call of Abraham God was giving everything through the Jewish people—in Hebrew or Aramaic. But now it was going to be in Gentile languages because God was shifting His plan away from the Jews. So what brings tongues to an end is the destruction of the temple in 70 AD.

But what we see even more clearly is that signs and wonders and healings and all of this connected with tongues is part of the message, a vindication and validation of the message of the kingdom. Once that is completely and finally rejected it completely removes that message. All of the other that goes with it also disappears.   

This gives us a great argument for understanding cessation, but it also helps us to understand why it is all through Acts that every time they are talking about the kingdom miracles are ongoing. It is because they are signs to the Jews of the truth of the message that they rejected.