There is much confusion in the professing church concerning the issue of signs due to a failure to rightly divide the word of truth. The following twelve points explain the dispensational purpose of signs.
1. Signs are supernatural manifestations associated with miracles and wonders (Acts 2:22; Heb. 2:1-5) that are given to confirm what God has said (Mk. 16:20).
2. Satan has the ability to counterfeit signs (Deut. 13:1-5; 2 Thess. 2:9). Therefore, the truth of God’s word is far more important than signs (2 Pet. 1:16-21).
3. God’s earthly people, the nation of Israel, began with signs (Ex. 4:1-9, 29-31) and God uses signs in His dealings with them (Ps. 74:9; Jn. 4:48; 1 Cor. 1:22). Signs, wonders, and miracles are not seen throughout biblical history but rather only show up at special times. They confirmed the message and ministry of Moses (law), Elijah and Elisha (prophets), and Jesus Christ and His apostles (fulfillment).
4. Christ worked signs in fulfillment of prophecy and in accordance with His message (Matt. 11:1-6), not merely because of His compassion or to prove He was the Son of God.
5. The gospel of the kingdom was accompanied by signs of the kingdom (Matt. 4:17, 23-24; Lk. 8:1). The signs pointed to the promised kingdom that was at hand (e.g., healing, Isa. 33:24; 35:1-6).
6. Signs continued in the Acts period even after the fall of Israel because God used Paul’s ministry to get a remnant out of Israel and into the Body of Christ as they were being diminished throughout the transition period (Rom. 11:1-5, 11-15). Paul had the signs of an apostle (2 Cor. 12:12), but he did not preach the gospel of the kingdom.
7. God gave Gentile believers sign gifts (e.g., healing, miracles, tongues) during the Acts period to provoke the Jews (Rom. 11:11, 14). The church at Corinth, which had all the signs (1 Cor. 12:1-11) was started next door to a synagogue (Acts 18:1-8).
8. The carnal Corinthians misused the sign gifts (1 Cor. 12-14). For example, they exalted the gift of tongues (last on the list) above the gift of prophecy. Tongues, the supernatural ability to speak in other languages, was a sign to the unbelieving Jews (1 Cor. 14:21-22). God gave commandments for the proper use of tongues (1 Cor. 14:27-40). That those who claim to speak in tongues today do not follow these commandments proves they are not led of the Spirit of God.
9. During the Acts period, Paul said that the sign gifts would cease (1 Cor. 13:8-13).
10. The signs ceased when Israel was officially set aside in judicial blindness (Acts 28:25-28) and the apostle Paul fulfilled the word of God (“that which is perfect,” 1 Cor. 13:10; Col. 1:25). For example, Paul no longer had the gift of healing after the Acts period (1 Tim. 5:23; 2 Tim. 4:20).
11. The complete word of God is all-sufficient for the ministry (2 Tim. 3:16-17). To desire signs over the scripture is childish (1 Cor. 14:20). To look for signs in this present age will lead to deception. The Body of Christ, God’s heavenly people, is to “walk by faith, not by sight” (2 Cor. 5:7).
12. God will use signs once again in the tribulation period when He resumes His dealings with Israel (e.g., Rev. 11:3-6). The kingdom commission that Christ gave His Jewish apostles was suspended due to the fall of Israel and the revelation of the mystery, but it will be fulfilled (Matt. 24:14; Mk. 16:15-18).
