Quote:
Originally Posted by Timmy
". . . if they drink any deadly thing, it shall not hurt them" As a "sign", this one especially is pretty lame, if it just means that it happens once in a while. They're all lame to some extent, for the same reason, but this one stands out. What possible value could it serve? "Oh look, here's a group of Chirstians -- I know they are, because they drink poison and sometimes, one of them doesn't die!" 
If you ask me, the snake handlers (who often drink poison, too) catch a lot of undeserved flak. They read it and believe it. (Sometimes they die, but that's another topic!) The old "don't tempt God" critique doesn't fit. They are not tempting God! They are obeying! They are trusting Him! They are putting His word to the test! |
My personal opinion of this passage in
Mark 16 is that Jesus is just mentioning a few of the "signs" that would follow His people over the years:
They would exorcise/evict demons from people i.e. the followers of Jesus have authority over satan and his angels. This is also seen in
Luke 10:17-20 before His ascension.
They would speak with new tongues. Some believe this means that when we get saved our talk or language is cleaned up and we don't talk like we used to. I think it means than tongues or glossolalia would be seen among His people. Speaking with tongues is not uniquely Christian. It happens in some satanic rituals and voodoo. That's why I believe we should not get carried away with or assign too much importance on "tongues."
As far as the poison and snake thing, I think He was just saying that over the years He would protect His people. There is one instance of someone ingesting poison in the Old Testament in
2 Kings 4:38-41 and one instance of someone being bit by a snake but not dieing in
Acts 28:1-6.
As far as laying hands on the sick and seeing them recover, this has happened throughout Church history. I believe we are to have a "hands on" ministry to minister healing (spiritual, physical, emotional) to those who are needy.