What is the boundary of the Local Church?

[Cal]

Originally Posted by Evangelical

What sort of miracles are we talking about here, that Paul for example, could have produced on demand to prove he was an apostle. The old coin behind the ear trick? egg in a bottle? I believe Witness Lee could have worked miracles if he wanted to.

There are other metrics we could use. For example, Witness Lee produced hundreds of churches, and Paul by my count produced about 20. It's a miracle in itself to produce so many churches in different countries.

Clearly Paul was talking about extraordinary acts of the supernatural, which is why he used three different words to describe them: signs, wonders and miracles (mighty deeds). He could have been including his church planting work in this as well, but he clearly was including other things as well. To conclude he wasn't including signs of supernatural power seems unreasonable.

At any rate, 2 Cor 12:12 severely weakens the claim of Apostleship by anyone who cannot work "wonders." Could it be that this was exactly what God wanted to achieve? Could it be that God did not want latter day men going around claiming to have the authority of an Apostle? Could it be he didn't want believers to grant anyone such authority without real proof?

Again, what is the benefit, at this late date in Church history, of claiming someone is an Apostle? All such claims seem to do is divide. They force people to choose sides, which is completely unnecessary. Paul himself did not wish that people would pick him to the exclusion of others, even when he was skeptical of those others' credentials. All he asked was that people at least listen to him some. That's all any of us can ask.

Lee, however, expected people to tune out everyone by him and those he approved of. That was nothing short of megalomania. The rotten fruit of it is there for anyone who has eyes to see.

If someone comes along who can do the things Paul did, like practically rise from the dead, I might be persuaded that he is a true Apostle. Until then, I'll remain unconvinced.