Quote:
Originally Posted by Igzy
But I agree that signs alone don't validate an apostle. But to me they are a minimum requirement. A following means little. Anyone ruthless enough can come up with a way to get a following. Just look at L. Ron Hubbard.
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Not only did Paul list "signs" as evidence, but also his suffering. Sufferings of all kinds, with little comfort to justify his status. This to me is a greater proof, the proving of our faith, trials by sufferings, so that what passes thru is of God alone.
Ministers love to duplicate his "
hankerchief" miracles (Acts 19.12), but who is willing to suffer as he did, for the Lord, for the truth, for the gospel, for the saints, and for righteousness sake? Paul took his sufferings from the Lord, not just the "thorns," and did not see them as from the "devil." Who could ever be a real minister, when all he has to share is the gospel of "
prosperity."
The apostles thus battled false "super-apostles" their entire lives. Endless counterfeits came and went, deceiving the elect. How much more today.