I would like to address the matter of miraculous gifts that we so 
often read about in the NT. I would first like to look at the purpose 
of these gifts, then look at some NT examples and compare them with 
the practices of today.
   
   The purpose of miracles was to confirm a message from God:

Mark 16:15-20 especially vs 20:
    And they went forth, and preached every where, the Lord working  
    with [them], and confirming the word with signs following. Amen. 
    (Mark 16:20) 

Also John 3:1-2:
    1  There was a man of the Pharisees, named Nicodemus, a ruler of 
    the Jews: 
    2  The same came to Jesus by night, and said unto him, Rabbi, we 
    know that thou art a teacher come from God: for no man can do    
    these miracles that thou doest, except God be with him. (John 3)

And Hebrews 2:3-4
    3  How shall we escape, if we neglect so great salvation; which  
    at the first began to be spoken by the Lord, and was confirmed   
    unto us by them that heard [him];
    4  God also bearing [them] witness, both with signs and wonders, 
    and with divers miracles, and gifts of the Holy Ghost, according 
    to his own will? (Hebrews 2)

As a sign to believers and unbelievers:
    Wherefore tongues are for a sign, not to them that believe, but  
    to them that believe not: but prophesying [serveth] not for them 
    that believe not, but for them which believe. (1 Cor. 14:22)
 
    All through the Bible we see God using the same pattern. He
created the world with miracles and then the the earth and her
inhabitants continued on under the laws of nature. Then at the
beginning of Judaism, The miracles of Moses and the tablets of stone
and the manna in the wilderness confirmed that this message was truly
from God. Then the Jews continued on under the law of Moses, as we
know it. After that miraculous deeds were isolated events until the
coming of John the Baptist and Jesus when God again used miracles to
show that this message being proclaimed was from Him as shown in the
previous verses.
    Let's take a look at 1 Corinthians 13:8-10:

8  Charity never faileth: but whether [there be] prophecies, they
shall fail; whether [there be] tongues, they shall cease; whether
[there be] knowledge, it shall vanish away.
9  For we know in part, and we prophesy in part.
10  But when that which is perfect is come, then that which is in
part shall be done away. (1 Corinthians 13)
 
    If we look at these verses in their context we see the people in
Corinth at the front end of Christianity. They do not have a Bible to
read or anything to show them the will of God, in worship, praying,
singing, etc. save the miraculous guidance of the H.S. They have
endowed spiritual gifts, some of which are knowledge, prophecy and
tongues. The problem was that none of the gifts were complete. The
knowledge was good but it was only part of the complete revelation of
God as was the gift of prophecy. Thus vs 9 says "For we know in part,
and we prophesy in part." Then vs 10 says "But when THAT WHICH IS
PERFECT is come, then that which is in part shall be done away." So
all we need to know is what is `that which is perfect' and when it is
coming (or has come) and we will know when the miraculous gifts are
to cease. To find this out, we must first correctly define the word
`perfect' in this passage. The Greek word used here, TELEIOS, is
defined in Vine's expository dictionary as "referring to the complete
revelation of God's will and ways, whether in the completed
Scriptures or in the hereafter." Now that we have defined the word
and put it in it's context we can see that the miracles would cease
when God's revelation to man is complete. The Bible claims that this
has already happened.
   
Jude says the faith WAS ONCE DELIVERED:
     
     Beloved, when I gave all diligence to write unto you of the     
     common salvation, it was needful for me to write unto you, and  
     exhort [you] that ye should earnestly contend for the faith     
     which was once delivered unto the saints. (Jude 1:3)

Notice the tense of the verbs Jude uses. He is talking about
something that had already happened.
   
     According as his divine power hath given unto us all things that
     [pertain] unto life and godliness, through the knowledge of him 
     that hath called us to glory and virtue: (2 Peter 1:3)

This verse in 2 Peter says His divine power HATH GIVEN unto us all
things... If all things are given, what is left to give and what
could a man prophecy today that we do not already know?
 
     16  All scripture [is] given by inspiration of God, and [is]    
     profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for       
     instruction in righteousness:
     17  That the man of God may be perfect, thoroughly furnished
     unto all good works. (2 Timothy 3)

Scripture furnishes us unto ALL good works. What need do we have for
more? Obviously, in light of these passages the revelation of God (or
our Bible) is complete and thus there is no further need for
spiritual gifts and they have ceased.
   
    Moving on...There are only two examples in the NT of anyone
receiving spiritual gifts without the laying on of the Apostles
hands. They are specifically in Acts 2 and Acts 8 where the
individuals in those instances were given the H.S. directly. All
other instances recorded of the NT church show that these gifts were
imparted through the laying on of Apostles hands.
    In Acts 19:1-6 notice that those of whom the Bible speaks were
believers and Paul even asked them if they had received the H.S. WHEN
THEY BELIEVED and they had not. Not until Paul laid hands on them.
     
     1  And it came to pass, that, while Apollos was at Corinth, Paul
     having passed through the upper coasts came to Ephesus: and     
     finding certain disciples,
     2  He said unto them, Have ye received the Holy Ghost since ye  
     believed? And they said unto him, We have not so much as heard  
     whether there be any Holy Ghost.
     3  And he said unto them, Unto what then were ye baptized? And  
     they said, Unto John's baptism.
     4  Then said Paul, John verily baptized with the baptism of     
     repentance, saying unto the people, that they should believe on 
     him which should come after him, that is, on Christ Jesus.
     5  When they heard [this], they were baptized in the name of the
     Lord Jesus.
     6  And when Paul had laid [his] hands upon them, the Holy Ghost 
     came on them; and they spake with tongues, and prophesied. (Acts
     19)

Simon saw in Acts 8:18 that this was the way the H.S. was dispersed:
     
     And when Simon saw that through laying on of the apostles' hands
     the Holy Ghost was given, he offered them money, (Acts 8:18)

In Romans 1:11 Paul was desiring to go to Rome to impart some
spiritual gifts to the church there so they might be established.
     
     For I long to see you, that I may impart unto you some spiritual
     gift, to the end ye may be established; (Romans 1:11)

Why did they need Paul to do this? They were believers and Paul
called them saints vs7. 
   Some today claim to be filled with the H.S. through baptism of the
H.S. as were the apostles and Cornielius but Ephesians 4:5 says there
is one Lord, one faith and ONE BAPTISM, which is obviously water
baptism. (But that is another study; See Baptism)
   
   The last thing I would like to point out is the difference between
Bible miracles and the `miracles' of today and how they differ in
there uses. Let's talk about tongues for instance. (we haven't talked
about them yet) In the Bible, tongues are defined as languages that
men understand:
     
     Now when this was noised abroad, the multitude came together,   
     and were confounded, because that every man heard them speak in 
     his own language. (Acts 2:6)

Men today put such emphasis on speaking in tongues yet they always
rely on 1 Cor. 13:1 where Paul states he speaks in the tongues of
angels, to justify why their tongue is not understood by anyone.
Right after that Paul tells how he would rather speak 5 words that
you could understand than 1000 words in a tongue. Then he talks about
the way tongues should be dealt with in the assembly. Two or three at
the most, each in turn and if there is no interpreter, let them be
silent. (1Cor 14:27-28) That is not the way I see them handled today.
Most congregations that practice tongues have several people, every
service speaking in tongues, usually all together and sometimes with
no interpreter!
    Then there's healing. The characters in the Bible didn't go
around healing headaches or backaches, they restored sight to the
blind! They restored withered limbs! And they were completely and
INSTANTANEOUSLY healed. They healed EVERYONE who was sick or
afflicted.(Matt 8:16) You don't read about the apostles failing to
heal anyone. It was not required of the person being healed to have
faith as it is today. (Acts 3:1-8)  My next door neighbor believes in
modern miracles yet he is confined to a wheelchair. If someone has
this power today, please, let him heal my friend Darryl who is blind
and crippled from birth who is also a devout believer.
   
Here's some questions I have for those who claim to have aquired   
spiritual gifts today:   

    The verses found in Mark 16:17-18 state: (17) "And these signs 
will follow those who believe: In My name, they will cast out demons; 
they will speak with new tongues;" (18) "they will take up serpants; 
and if they drink anything deadly, it will by no means hurt them; they 
will lay hands on the sick, and they will recover."

Verse 18 it states that they will take up serpents and if they drink
any poisonous thing it shall not harm them. I say with all love in my
heart: Do you really believe that if you drink some poisonous substance 
that it will not harm you?? Do you take up serpents?? Why not? 
(The common response to this is that we are not to "test God", but I 
am not testing God, I am testing YOU to see if you are of God as you say)  
The verse says they will lay hands on the sick, and THEY WILL RECOVER. 
Why can you lay hands on the sick and they DO NOT RECOVER? You claim the 
tongues you speak in are a sign to show that you are from God, yet these 
other signs do not follow you. If these gifts have not ceased, then ALL 
these signs would follow the man of God, I pray you will see this.