Generally speaking God has expected His people to walk with Him by faith, not by sight (Hab. 2:4; Heb. 1:1,6; 2 Cor. 5:7). In line with this principle visible manifestations of miraculous power have been the exception rather than the rule. When it has been granted, the power to work miracles was given only for short periods and for particular reasons. Acceptance that certain miraculous gifts of the Spirit were withdrawn after the special witness of the apostolic period is therefore in harmony with a Bible-wide pattern.

This is confirmed by the Lord's statement in Mark 16:17,18. The Lord said that certain signs would follow them that believe the gospel. Yet multitudes have believed through the centuries without the signs following. If God had intended this statement to be applicable throughout the gospel age, such signs must necessarily have followed continually. Experience proves that this was not implied in the Lord's words. The signs did follow during the apostolic age, but they were not a usual result of belief in the gospel afterwards.

It is important to face facts and see them in clear perspective. Mark 16:17,18 must be interpreted in the light of actual experience. The evidence of history is that the signs have not in fact followed in the vast majority of cases where believers have put saving faith in Christ over the past eighteen centuries. Yet the gospel has so often been proclaimed in the manifest fullness and power of the Holy Spirit.

In view of much misunderstanding about the gifts of the Holy Spirit in our time, readers are asked to consider the subject in the light of the exhortation: