18- WHAT ABOUT THE SIGNS ?

Sermons and Subjects by the late Dr. Henry Grube is a "must" classic resource for those interested in the study of the Bible in general and dispensations in particular. This book is one of many other resources in a catalog that is offered by Bible Doctrines Publications of Grand Rapids, Michigan 49501 ( P.O. Box 2351 ; 616-785-3618)

There is a chapter titled in the above, mentioned book, called "How God Speaks Today". This paper will try to deal with that same subject, in relation to "signs", are they as necessary today as some claim ? We begin with the Gospel of John.

John and Luke both give reasons for writing their gospel records. Luke presents his as an introduction both to his gospel and to II Luke or the book of Acts. Luke addresses an individual named Theophilus, a lover of God.

John states his purpose for writing near the end of the gospel record, in Jn. 20:30-31. Here, John states that he wrote about the"signs" that Jesus performed in the presence of his disciples. There were many which are not written in this Gospel record. The 'signs' that John records before he states the purpose of his writing this Gospel are :

The first miracle- Turning water to wine- chapter 2
The second miracle- The healing of the Nobleman's son- chapter 4
The third miracle- The healing of the lame man- chapter 5
The fourth miracle- The feeding of the five thousand- chapter 6
The fifth miracle- The walking on the water- chapter 6
The sixth miracle- The healing of the blind man- chapter 9
The seventh miracle- The raising of Lazarus- chapter 11

Dr. Merrill C. Tenney of Wheaton College in his book, John, The Gospel of Belief gives the relationship the Lord Jesus has to each "sign" as the Master of each situation.

He is seen as The Master of Quality- chapter 2
The Master of Space- chapter 4
The Master of Time- chapter 5
The Master of Quantity- chapter 6
The Master of Nature- chapter 6
The Master of Misfortune- chapter 9
The Master of Death- chapter 11

There is an eighth sign, given after the purpose of 20:30-31. Here is the draught of fishes.

Here is a new beginning. Here the Lord Jesus can be seen as The Master of Success.

There are no disappointments in following his will and his direction. A key idea that John gives in the purpose verses, is the fact that at the time of the writing of this Gospel, signs need not be demonstrated or seen, for the purpose of supporting the witness to the ministry of the Lord Jesus, with a view to induce faith in Jesus as the Christ, the Son of God and because of that faith, the believing one may have life through his name. John wrote about selected signs which can be read, believed and through that faith, have life through Christ's name.

Hebrews 13:8 states : Jesus Christ the same yesterday and today, and forever. This is quickly followed by a warning : Be not carried away with divers and strange doctrines.

This warning might include a false claim that believers can expect signs, wonders and miracles from the SAME Lord Jesus because he did it yesterday, today and will continue into the future.

Contrary to this false claim, the Lord was upon this earth for nearly thirty years and never performed a single sign, wonder or miracle. In that same time span, there were many deaths, sorrows and sicknesses from which Jesus never delivered anyone. But, the Lord Jesus remained the same. This verse is speaking about the dependability and reliability of the Lord who is worthy to be trusted in the stressful times that these readers of this epistle ( Hebrews ) were going through. This was not a blanket statement for a host of signs, wonders and miracles to be expected, anticipated or to be relied upon as some kind of spiritual guarantee.

There needs to be the discernment for the student that the Bible is not filled with these signs, wonders and miracles on every page and from cover to cover. Although Israel is called the 'sign' people, the Scripture indicates that God is sovereign, He is the 'SIGN' GOD or the God of the Signs. This is where the emphasis should be. He is in control of the manifestation of communication, whether through the use of signs, wonders or miracles. He is the mover, the initiator of signs. Hebrews 1:1 seems to indicate that God spoke in many portions and in many ways through the prophets.

This is not an effort to dumb down the value, purpose and the place of signs, wonders and miracles that are found in the Scriptures, but to give a more Biblical perspective. From Adam to Christ, who were the sign makers ? Who performed the wonders and miracles ? Abraham performed the 'sign' of circumcision. Joseph had special dreams. Moses worked special signs. The word 'signs' is first found in Gen. 1:14. 'Sign' is first found in Exodus 4:8. Elijah and Elisha were oral prophets, they did not write any messages. But they did perform signs and wonders. John the Baptist performed no sign. John 10:41Who are the others ? Is there any evidence that the signs are to be found on page after page of Scripture ?

There were different signs for different purposes. Contrary to the teaching emphasis of some dispensationalists, not all signs are to be restricted and relegated to Israel or to the program of God dealing with the Kingdom. Paul is a good example. He was without a doubt, the Apostle of the Gentiles.

Paul, as the Apostle of the Gentiles, certainly manifested signs of that Apostleship to Gentiles. Romans 11:13. Also, in Romans 15:15-19, Paul refers to himself as a "minister to the Gentiles…….through mighty signs and wonders, by the power of Spirit."

Without a doubt, Paul labored to bring both Jew and Gentile to the obedience of the faith. Without a doubt, he used the "signs of his Apostleship" before both Jew and Gentile.

This same reference ( II Cor. 12:12) along with Paul's teaching in I Cor. 12 confirm (to me !) that the sign gifts as listed there were given to the church, the Body of Christ. These sign gifts may certainly have an appeal to the unconverted Jewish person who 'saw' and 'heard', but the bottom line, for these gifts, is that they were not restricted to a ministry for the Jew only.

A Problem Passage – I Cor. 1:22 It has been my experience in reading like-minded dispensational material, that in the usage of this verse, there seems to be too much given away or possibly an unquestioning acquiescence to just how this verse is used to support the idea that somehow, Jews have an inside tract on receiving signs. It is almost like something is still due to them.

KJV- "For the Jews require a sign, and the Greeks seek after wisdom:.."

RSV- "For Jews demand signs and Greeks seek wisdom, .."

Phillips- "For the Jews ask for miraculous proofs and the Greeks an intellectual panacea,.."

NEB- "Jews call for miracles, Greeks look for wisdom:.."

Did God go out of his way, so to speak, by giving in to the Jews, because they 'require' signs, and the proof for this idea is I Cor. 1:22 ? Does Paul here, in this verse recognize a Jewish right to demand, require or ask for signs ? This does not fit the context here. Reality in this context, has the world divided into two groups, Jews and Greeks, representative of the whole world.

"It pleased God by the foolishness of the thing (the gospel ) preached to save them that believe" 1:21b

"Seeing both | Jews signs ask/require" 1:22a

and "Greeks wisdom seek" 1:22b

"but we preach Christ crucified" 1:23a ( like 1:21b )

"unto the Jews a stumbling block" 1:23b ( like 1:22a)

"and unto the Greeks foolishness" 1:23c ( like 1:22b)

"unto them which are called, both Jews and Greeks.." 1:24a

"Christ the power of God"- to both believing Jew and Greek. 1:24b

"Christ the wisdom of God"- to both believing Jew and Greek. 1:24c

When we look at the Lord's ministry, we find that he did accommodate his questioners, when certain of the scribes and of the Pharisses said to him, "Master we would see a sign from thee." Matt. 12:38 But not on their terms. And NOT necessarily because they did make a request to see a sign, because he knew their thoughts. Matt. 12:25 He states that an evil and adulterous generation seeketh after a sign; and there shall no sign be given it, but the sign of the prophet Jonas."

Here, the sign of the prophet Jonas was Jonas' time spent in the whale's belly, three days and three nights………………..so shall the Son of man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth. Matt. 12:38. This is repeated in Matt. 16:1-4. Here, they sought a sign tempting him. Luke states these words of the Lord: "This is an evil generation: they seek a sign; and there shall no sign be given it, but the sign of Jonas the prophet. For as Jonas was a sign unto the Ninevites, so shall also the Son of man be to this generation. Luke 11:29-30. The Lord speaks a similar idea as Matthew. In Matthew, Jonas was a sign before he arrived at Nineveh ( so it seems to this writer ) In Luke, Jonas is a sign (after the experience in the whale's belly) to the people of Nineveh when he arrives, in that city, preaching a warning of coming calamity.

In each case, there is accommodation, without recognition of any rights to ask, require or demand a sign, based on some kind of promise, covenant or relationship to God. In each case, we find a wrong reason/motive for approaching the Lord. If we look at the context of I Cor. 1, we will see that Paul considers the Jews and the Greeks here as part of the world of unbelief, who are out of order in their pursuit of signs and wisdom. I Cor. 1:22 is NOT by Paul, a recognized "given" to the Jew or Greek. There was no blank check for these people to fill out, because God did not give this "check". This was NOT a perscription for a sick people, written by God and at their request, on demand, God will jump through their hoop and roll out on a red carpet filled with their sign requests.

Another Problem Passage-John 4:48 What did Jesus mean when he said : Except ye see signs and wonders, ye will not believe ? Let us check out the data within this text and context to build a case. Cf. John 4:43-54 The first miracle in John was "This beginning" , which manifested the glory of him and his disciples believed on him. Jn 2:11. May we see this as a purpose for this 'sign' found here in John 4 ? If so, we have a direction from which the signs are coming. John choose these 'signs' to fit the purpose of the Gospel. cf. John 20:30-31. The target for these signs are: glory to Christ, belief by the disciples.

This case of the nobleman's sick son has also a greater context in which to be fitted. We need to note John 2:23-25 as it relates to John 4:43-46. The nobleman made a request to Jesus. Please note the nobleman's purpose for his asking : his son was at the point of death, with no solutions. It is here that we find Jesus' response. Does this response fit ?

'Except ye see signs and wonders, ye will not believe.'

Is Jesus stating a general principle for his actions and reactions in all his dealings with the people of Israel ? Is this the implication that comes out of this text ? Is this the true exposition of the text ? Does Jesus make his statement in order to affirm and/or reaffirm a basic 'given' in all of God's dealings with Israel. Are we to accept this line of thinking that Jesus placed the request of the nobleman in the area that is natural and acceptable for all Israelites ?

OR, have we a context in which Jesus is really asking, are you another one like the crowds that have believed for the seeing ? Again, see the larger context of Jn 2:23-25 with Jn 4:44-46. Does this story contain the elements of a contrast between 'believing' and 'believing' ?

The response of the nobleman does not give us the impression that his asking was based on the principle discussed above. He was not seeking confirmation of the ability of the Lord to help. He accepted that. His answer demonstrated that he was not like one of the 'see' and 'believe' crowd. He was not testing whether the Lord could help by asking for a sign.

The Lord's response shows us that this man already had the confidence that he, the Lord, could help. "Go thy way; thy son liveth." Notice the statement in 4:53. 'and himself believed, and his whole house.' Here is another contrast between a 'believing' such as when he sought the Lord's help and the 'believing' that his son was healed, as the Lord stated.

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