Do We Agree | Holy Spirit | Session 3

Session 3 | Cessation Arguments Examined | Part 1

Big Idea:

· Cessation of Gifts? (Overview)

· Examining the Arguments

In examining common cessation arguments, we will give evidence/defense for continuation beliefs.

Cessastionist: The apostolic “sign” and “revelatory” gifts ceased with the last apostle's death. (discuss the spectrum)(God given gifts that people manifest at will, God working through them, God working without human interaction, any sign, wonder or miracle.)

Continuationist: All the gifts of the spirit are in operation in the body of Christ today and were never meant to cease at any point in our history. (there is a future time they will cease but we will explore that more later)

· Define charismatic and Pentecostal.

· Chris Rosenberg heretic claims of charismatics

“The Charismatic movement is marked with a history of scandal which nullifies the entire movement.” (genetic fallacy)

At the Strange Fire conference, Pastor MacArthur said: “There is a stream of sound teaching, sound doctrine, sound theology, that runs all the way back to the Apostles. It runs through Athanasius and Augustine, through Luther and Calvin, the great Reformation and Reformers, and the Puritans, and everything seems so clear to them. Through the Westminster divines and the pathway of Spurgeon and David Martyn Lloyd-Jones, and S. Lewis Johnson, and Jim Boice, and to R. C. Sproul. That’s the stream of sound doctrine. The heroes of this generation are people in that stream. . . . But you have to understand, this other stream of evangelicalism goes back to about 1966, when the hippies came out of San Francisco, joined Calvary Chapel, and we had the launch of an informal, barefoot, beach, drug-induced kind of young people that told the church how we should act. Hymns went out. Suits went out. For the first time in the history of the church, the conduct of the church was conformed in a subculture that was formed on LSD in San Francisco and migrated to Southern California. That launches the self-focused church that winds up in the seeker-friendly church, that splinters in the Vineyard movement, which develops into the charismatic stream. I don’t go back to Lonnie Frisbee, who led the Jesus movement and died of AIDS as a homosexual. That’s not my stream. But that’s the stream that has produced the culturally-bound, seeker-driven church movement. And while there are good and bad and better and worse elements of it, that’s where it comes from. We are very different.”

Then lead into Martin Luther quotes.

“Almost every night when I wake up the devil is there and wants to dispute with me. I have come to this conclusion: When the argument that the Christian is without the law and above the law doesn’t help, I instantly chase him away with a fart.”

“Even if we were to kill or commit adultery thousands of times each day,” that would not separate us from Jesus?”

“ . . . every Christian is by faith so exalted above all things that, by virtue of a spiritual power, he is lord of all things without exception, so that nothing can do him any harm. As a matter of fact, all things are made subject to him and are compelled to serve him in obtaining salvation.”

According to William McGrath, When he was in later years reproached for such violent language, and for inciting territorial lords to merciless slaughter (they killed over 100,000 peasants), he answered defiantly: “It was I, Martin Luther, who slew all the peasants in the insurrection, for I commanded them to be slaughtered. All their blood is upon my shoulders. But I cast it on our Lord God who commanded me to speak in this way.”

Can you imagine what Pastor MacArthur would say if some charismatic?

Now, if you own Strange Fire, go back and read the chapter outlining the various scandals associated with Pentecostal and charismatic leaders, from Charles Parham to Ted Haggard, and see if all of them combined come anywhere near the scandals associated with Luther, the father of the Protestant Reformation. What, then, does this say of Protestantism as a whole if the genetic fallacy were actually true?

1) Based on the genetic fallacy, the faith of all of Protestants (which includes all evangelicals) should be suspect, based on the life and teachings of Luther (whose failings we have barely sampled) and Calvin (whose theology is as hated as it is revered).

2) Strange Fire critics use unequal weights and measures, attacking charismatics with one standard while defending the Reformers (and those in their own camp) with another standard.

So yes, it is true that there have been all too many scandals among charismatic leaders, as repeated in Strange Fire, yet for every charismatic TV preacher who has fallen, there are ten (or 100, or more) who have not. On the flip side, there is a website devoted exclusively to exposing Southern Baptist ministers and church workers who are alleged sexual predators (with claims of collusion and cover-up brought against some of the highest Southern Baptist leaders in the country), and a December 11, 2008 report on ABP News relates, “The secrecy of Southern Baptist Convention officials about a financial scandal at their International Mission Board wasn’t anything unusual. It’s the sort of thing we’ve seen over and over again.” Southern Baptists need to begin seeing the pattern rather than merely viewing these things as isolated cases. It’s a very common pattern: Without accountability, power corrupts. Religious organizations are no exception. The corruption manifests itself not only in the cover-up of financial wrongdoing, but also in the cover-up of clergy sex abuse. For both types of corruption, the root of the problem is a systemic lack of accountability. The fact is that charismatic leaders hardly have a monopoly on scandals. (By way of comparison, have charges as serious as those alleged in this article just cited been brought against the largest Pentecostal denomination, the Assemblies of God? I think not.) And regardless of whether there is another side to the storyline of this article attacking the Southern Baptist Convention (which I cite as one example of many), the report gets one thing right: “Without accountability, power corrupts. Religious organizations are no exception.” That, in reality, is the root of the problem, rather than charismatics being the root of the problem, as claimed by the Strange Fire camp.

I hear all the time from people who thank me for helping them get outside of their crazy charismatic world and that is their proof this is much bigger and worse than charismatics let on. I can also say the same thing about reformed theology, Calvinism, and Baptist circles. Don’t compare the best things about your religion [ideology] to the worst things about someone else’s.

Isn't it remarkable that the Corinthians thrived in the exercise of the gifts of the Spirit and were commended by Paul for that, while living in doctrinal error, moral compromise, and community division?

Mainstream and fringe. Way too many look at Christian tv and label the movement. They have not taken the time to sit down and get to know the church.

“A cessationist skepticism can shut them down to authentic God-given spiritual encounters. A continuist lack of discernment or unfiltered desire for supernatural can leave them open to error. “ Jim Osman

We have seen clearly in scripture that the person, fruits, grace, anointing, and gifts of the spirit were given to the church, but no place where any of them were retracted or said to cease. (show me)

• Many teach that the gifts have ceased not based on a Sola Scriptura understanding but on a perceived lack of experience with them in church history. An assumption has been made and taught based on experience rather than biblical teaching. This is interesting to me because these same teachers often scrutinize and belittle anyone who claims to have experiences with gifts of the spirit. Our experience should not dictate the word of God.

• Some would make the distinction between no longer miracles today and no longer spiritual gifts. This argument allows for God’s sovereignty to do whatever He wishes on a one-time event but that the average believer should not expect supernatural gifts of the spirit in their daily life. That is fine however, I don’t see this clearly taught in scripture. In fact, we are taught to seek after gifts and power to accomplish the works of Christ and this was never retracted.

• Some argue that the empowerment for the Great Commission spoken of in John 14, 16, Acts 2, Matthew 28, Luke 24, and Mark 16 applied only to the apostles. Where does this come from? Does this also remove all of the other biblical texts that was written to specific people or churches? If that is the case we have very little New Testament Scripture for the church for all time. (we do understand certain parts of scripture are specific to a time and place) So, the apostles died and left the Great Commission to the church but did not leave the power to fulfill it? Jesus said in Acts 1:8 that we need this power to be His witnesses, so why would he take it back? Are we no longer called to be His witnesses? Scripture?

• Where has the empowerment of the spirit changed and/or left? Acts 2:17; 39 makes the same promise to anyone who believes. Where is the testimony of scripture that says this changes? Instead, it says, pursue prophecy, do not stop people from speaking in tongues, eagerly desire spiritual gifts, pray for the sick, anoint with oil, minister with the anointing, gift, and grace, God gives.

• In 1 Corinthians 13:8b, Paul teaches us that certain gifts will no longer be necessary at some point in the future. He cites the three gifts as examples that had created the most problems in Corinth. (Prophesy, tongues, and knowledge) Answer: Future ceasing. 1 Cor. 14 goes on to talk about tongues and prophesy as a common occurrence in the local church. If Prophesy and tongues has ceased, what about knowledge? Why would anyone assume these gifts have ceased if the fullness has not come?

• 1 Corinthians 1:7-8 so that you come short in no gift, eagerly waiting for the revelation of our Lord Jesus Christ, 8 who will also confirm you to the end, that you may be blameless in the day of our Lord Jesus Christ.

• “What we see in the modern charismatic movement is not the same as the early church.” I could say the same about the other gifts, like teaching, discernment, and prayer, but does that negate them?

• It's frustrating me when people say that the modern charismatics are claiming God is doing new things in this season and say that is heresy and call upon God’s been doing the same thing all along. However, the entire reformation was a new thing; it was an old thing that was being restored. Why can they claim that the movement that they live and die for is one way, but God would never do that with the revival of the charismatic?

• Tom says that if you have a speaking gift, make sure it aligns with scripture. Yet he does not allow the same advice with revelatory gifts like tongues or prophesy. They are called to be discerned against scripture and other accountable leaders. Why is one gift valid and the other not? The most abused gift I’ve seen is teaching.

• Tom said, if you mean that God is speaking communication to you that we have no biblical evidence for that. On the contrary we have biblical evidence opposite that. “More sure word” we don’t need anything else. Not so we have many New Testament verses.

• Dangers of the charismatic position- Tom said most professing charismatics are not Christian. Catholic, oneness Pentecostals, prosperity gospel. “Undermines scripture”. (we will see more about this later) (my experience with many self-identifying cessationists who say they have witnessed sign gifts today, especially on the mission field.)

• Justin says,” The most cautious charismatic would consider a lot of false teachers brothers in Christ.” Basically, he is attacking the discernment of charismatics. Well, according to Peter, there are not that many true believers. He condemns and accuses so many of apostasy that it leaves very few.

Argument #1 | Authentication & Authority Argument (This is one of the main arguments of cessationists so Ill take more time on this one.)

“If we get a little bit more specific, we might ask, what is the gift of miracles, or who was a miracle worker? The gift of miracles was ... A gift given to a supernaturally endowed person. God worked miracles through that individual, confirming that that individual was a spokesman and representative for God.”

“When Moses said, what if they don't believe me? God says, I'm going to give you the power to work miracles so that they will believe you that you're speaking on my behalf.” - Tom Pennington Countryside Bible Church

“The miracles were given to validate that they are a mouthpiece for God, that he is a man sent by God to speak on behalf of God” - Steven J. Lawson Professor Of Preaching, The Master’s Seminary

Reasons why charismatic practices are counterfeit (-Benjamin Breckinridge Warfield)

“The essential role of miraculous charismata is to accredit true doctrine or its bearers.” “While God may providentially act in unusual, even striking ways, true miracles are limited to epochs of special divine revelation, i.e., those within the biblical period.” “Miracles are judged by the doctrines they purport to accredit: if the doctrines are false, or alter orthodox doctrines, their accompanying miracles are necessarily counterfeit.”

On the Cessation of the Charismata: The Protestant Polemic on Post-biblical Miracles (Word & Spirit Monograph Series Book 1) . Unknown. Kindle Edition.

“It is a simple fact of history that the true signs of an apostle diminished and faded from use before the canon of Scripture was complete. Nothing is said about miraculous gifts in any of the later epistles of Paul. Nor does he bring up the subject in any of his pastoral epistles.”-John MacArthur

Their argument:

1. They needed messengers to be validated by miracles because they did not have a complete Bible. The Apostle’s authority and supernatural abilities validate that they are a mouthpiece for God. (Circular argument)

2. We have a complete Bible;

3. We don’t need our messengers to be validated because the message is complete.

· Problem- No scripture verse affirms 1.

· Their argument assumes their conclusion. Their conclusion is, “We don’t need signs because we have a complete canon.” This is also their premise.

· A miracle by itself doesn’t authenticate you because false prophets also performed miracles and some prophets did not have any recorded miracles in their ministry.

· There were also other purposes for miracles, like showing compassion (Matthew 9), giving glory to God (John 9, Exodus 14:17-18 & Exodus 2:23-25), authenticating the gospel (Hebrews 2), expressing love (1 Corinthians 13), building up the church (1 Cor. 14), equipping the saints (Ephesians 4) etc. All of these reasons are still valid and go beyond simple authentication of apostles.

· It is not logical to assume that if Moses or Elijah had a complete Bible, they would not have needed miracles. Imagine if Moses had the full revelation of the Gospel. Would the Red Sea still have swallowed up the Egyptians? This shows that the purpose of the miracles went beyond authenticating the messenger.

The charismata do not accredit the Gospel or replace the Gospel; rather, they express the Gospel.

One point made several times in the cessation film is that the “gift” of miracles was designed to “confirm that the individual was a spokesman and representative of God.” This was certainly true in the OT, as a quick look at 1 Kings 17:24 will demonstrate. But this is not the case in the NT. Nowhere in the NT are signs and wonders and miraculous spiritual gifts said to authenticate or validate the apostles. That they validate and confirm the message of the gospel is certainly true. Consider for example, Acts 14:3 where Luke describes the Lord “bore witness to the word of his grace, granting signs and wonders to be done by their hands.” To what was God bearing witness by signs and wonders? Clearly it is “the word of his grace,” not the apostles themselves. (Now, I know you may be thinking: what about 2 Cor. 12:12? Doesn’t Paul say in that text that signs, wonders, and miracles are the signs of an apostle?” see notes on 2 Corinthians 12:12 under argument #3)

Please listen closely. Even if it could be shown that signs, wonders, and miraculous gifts bore witness to the authenticity of the apostles, a point that can be conceded here only for the sake of argument, what reason would anyone have for concluding that this is the sole and exclusive purpose of such supernatural phenomena? We know that these miraculous events served several other purposes as well.

· For example, the miraculous served to glorify God and to draw attention to his power and compassion. This was the primary reason for the resurrection of Lazarus, as Jesus himself makes clear in John 11:4. He healed the sick and even fed the 5,000 principally because he felt compassion for the people. Matthew 14:14 And when Jesus went out He saw a great multitude; and He was moved with compassion for them, and healed their sick. Mark 1:41 Then Jesus, moved with compassion, stretched out His hand and touched him, and said to him, “I am willing; be cleansed.” (See also: Matthew 9:35-38)

· The purpose of the miraculous is also found in John 2:11 about manifesting Christs glory. John 9:1-3 says the purpose is that the works of God may be manifest in Him. Matthew 15:29-31 says the supernatural produced glory to God. John 20:30-31 so that they may believe that He is the Christ.

We also see false prophets performing miracles. Mark 13:21-23 Then if anyone says to you, ‘Look, here is the Christ!’ or, ‘Look, He is there!’ do not believe it. 22 For false christs and false prophets will rise and show signs and wonders to deceive, if possible, even the elect. 23 But take heed; see, I have told you all things beforehand.

Miracles also served an evangelistic purpose (see Acts 9:32-35)

· There are several texts which indicate that one primary purpose of miraculous phenomena was to edify and build up the body of Christ (1 Cor.12:7; 14:3,4,5,26; Eph4:11-13) In fact, Paul said the nine gifts of the Spirit in 1Corinthians 12:7-11 were given “for the common good” (v. 7), that is, for the spiritual blessing and benefit of all God’s people. Simply stated, all the gifts of the Spirit, whether tongues or miracles, whether prophecy or mercy, whether healing or helps, were given, among other reasons, for the edification and building up and encouraging and instructing and consoling and sanctifying of the body of Christ.

Therefore, even if the ministry of the miraculous gifts to attest and authenticate has ceased, a point I concede only for the sake of argument, such gifts would continue to function in the church for the other reasons cited.

· A miraculous gift like prophecy is designed to build up, encourage, and console the people of God (1 Cor.14:3)

· All such gifts enable us to serve one another in the body of Christ (1 Peter 4:10), and they can even be helpful in building up oneself (1 Cor. 14:4; Jude 20)

· Paul continues in this vein as he describes throughout 1 Corinthians 14 that all spiritual gifts, especially prophecy, are given to build up other believers. We see this in the following texts:

· “the one who prophesies speaks to people for their upbuilding [edification] and encouragement and consolation” (1 Cor. 14:3).

· “the one who prophesies builds up the church” (1 Cor 14:4)

· Both prophecy and interpreted tongues are given “so that the church may be built up” (1. Cor. 14:5).

· All Christians, in the use of their gifts, are to “strive to excel in building up the church” (1 Cor. 14:12b).

· Prophecy in the gathered assembly is designed “to instruct others” (1 Cor. 14:19b).

· “What then, brothers? When you come together, each one has a hymn, a lesson [lit., a teaching], a revelation, a tongue, or an interpretation. Let all things be done for building up” (1 Cor. 14:26).

Observe again that miraculous phenomena like revelatory words, tongues, and interpretation of tongues are designed to build up or edify others and not simply to confirm or authenticate the ministry and message of apostles.

· Spirit power for the gospel. 1 Corinthians 2:1-5 And I, brethren, when I came to you, did not come with excellence of speech or of wisdom declaring to you the testimony of God. 2 For I determined not to know anything among you except Jesus Christ and Him crucified. 3 I was with you in weakness, in fear, and in much trembling. 4 And my speech and my preaching were not with persuasive words of human wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power, 5 that your faith should not be in the wisdom of men but in the power of God.

Gods glory and bold proclamation of the world. Acts 4:29-31 Now, Lord, look on their threats, and grant to Your servants that with all boldness they may speak Your word, 30 by stretching out Your hand to heal, and that signs and wonders may be done through the name of Your holy Servant Jesus.” 31 And when they had prayed, the place where they were assembled together was shaken; and they were all filled with the Holy Spirit, and they spoke the word of God with boldness.

We must resist the allure (and error) of reductionism. What I mean by this is thinking that simply because a spiritual gift or miracle “A” serves us well in one particular capacity that it cannot serve us well in yet another. Why should the purpose of attestation be a reason why such gifts cannot function in a multitude of other capacities beyond the time of the first century and even into the 21st?

Thus, for the cessationist argument to persuade, one must demonstrate that authentication or attestation was the sole and exclusive purpose of such displays of divine power.

The conclusion is the premise. It ended with the death of the last apostle. Gifts ended. This does not prove cessationsim.

Argument #2 | The Periods of Time Argument (Cluster Argument)

According to the cluster argument, miraculous phenomena, be they spiritual gifts or signs and wonders, angelic visitations and God speaking to his people, occurred primarily (if not exclusively) in “intermittent” times in biblical history.

“There were times, three of them in scripture when God gave men the power to work miracles. There is, first of all, the time of Moses and Joshua, 1,400 years before Christ, a period of about 65 years. Then you fast forward to the time of Elijah and Elisha. You're about 800 years before Christ. And there again, you have a period of about 65 years when God was giving men the power to work miracles. The next period of time like that comes in the time of Jesus and the apostles. And that stems from the beginning of his ministry to, at the very latest, the death of John. There you have another period of 65, 70 years. Those were the three epics. And in each case, it was to confirm those men as his messengers.” - Tom Pennington Countryside Bible Church

“Most biblical miracles happened in three relatively brief periods of Bible history: in the days of Moses and Joshua, during the ministries of Elijah and Elisha, and in the time of Christ and the apostles . . . Aside from those three intervals, the only supernatural events recorded in Scripture were isolated incidents. In the days of Isaiah, for example, the Lord supernaturally defeated Sennacherib’s army (2 Kings 19:35–36), then healed Hezekiah and turned the sun’s shadows back (20:1–11). In the days of Daniel, God preserved Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego in the furnace (Daniel 3:20–26). For the most part, however, supernatural events like those did not characterize God’s dealings with his people . . . Miracles introduced new eras of revelation.

All three periods of miracles were times when God gave his written revelation—Scripture—in substantial quantities. Those doing the miracles were essentially the same ones heralding an era of revelation. Moses wrote the first five books of Scripture. Elijah and Elisha introduced the prophetic age. The apostles wrote nearly all of the New Testament. -John MacArthur

I can’t help but wonder if those who employ this so-called “cluster” argument have spent time digging into the Scripture on this point. Before you dismiss my statement, let’s turn to the Scriptures and see if the “cluster” argument has any basis in the text. If you will take the time to read with me a number of verses spread throughout the OT, you will undoubtedly see how baseless and unbiblical this argument is.

· If, for argument’s sake, we concede the point that miracles were isolated for a specific period of time, what reasons were given for this restriction? When supernatural phenomena do not occur, what is the attitude of the writers of Scripture toward their absence? When there is an absence of the supernatural in the Old Testament, the Scripture writers do not take that as normative for the people of God; they most often take it as a sign of judgment.

1. Could it be Israel's sinful rebellion?

· Psalm 74 begins like this: “O God, why have you rejected us forever? Why does your anger smolder against the sheep of your pasture?” (74:1). Then after describing the judgment under which Israel has fallen, the psalmist laments, “We are given no signs from God; no prophets are left, and none of us knows how long this will be” (74:9). The psalmist takes the absence of signs and prophets as the judgment of the Lord.

· There is a similar lament in Psalm 77:7–10. The psalmist refuses to accept the absence of the Lord’s supernatural deeds as normal living conditions for the people of God. His answer to this dilemma is to remember the supernatural works of the past (77:11). The word remember very likely means to cause to remember or to extol these deeds. He then refers to the Lord as “the God who performs miracles” (77:14). He does not say “the God who performed miracles,” but “the God who performs miracles.” He uses a present tense participle for the expression performs miracles. He means that God is still doing miracles.

Micah 3:5-9 Thus says the Lord concerning the prophets who lead my people astray, who cry “Peace” when they have something to eat, but declare war against him who puts nothing into their mouths. 6 Therefore it shall be night to you, without vision, and darkness to you, without divination. The sun shall go down on the prophets, and the day shall be black over them; 7 the seers shall be disgraced, and the diviners put to shame; they shall all cover their lips, for there is no answer from God. 8 But as for me, I am filled with power, with the Spirit of the Lord, and with justice and might, to declare to Jacob his transgression and to Israel his sin.

· The fact that Israel was not experiencing these miracles was a sign of judgment, not a sign that God was no longer doing them. The prophets speak the same way. One of the worst judgments that God could pronounce on Jerusalem was recorded by Isaiah: “The Lord has brought over you a deep sleep: He has sealed your eyes (the prophets); he has covered your heads (the seers)” (Isaiah 29:10). Not to have the benefit of the ministry of the prophets and seers was regarded as a disastrous judgment from the Lord in the Old Testament.

· Even if it could be proved that all supernatural occurrences in the Bible were confined to these three periods in the Scripture—the periods of Moses and Joshua, Elijah and Elisha, and Christ and the apostles—it still wouldn’t mean the Scriptures teach that miracles ended with Christ and the apostles. It would still have to be proved that Scripture actually teaches that miracles would end with this third period. The Scriptures end with the introduction of the kingdom of Christ, an introduction that is accompanied by miracles and supernatural phenomena. The only divinely inspired record we have of church life is one in which miracles and supernatural guidance are relatively common. Even if there had only been two periods of miracles in the Old Testament, that would not prove that the kingdom of Christ would only have a brief period of miracles. All things have changed with the coming of Christ and his kingdom. We are still living in the timeframe of this second period in church history so why would they stop only 1 generation in?

· What about unbelief? The sin of unbelief certainly hindered the life and ministry of Jesus.

Mark 6:3-6

Is not this the carpenter, the son of Mary and brother of James and Joseph and Judas and Simon? And are not his sisters here with us?” And they took offense at him. 4 And Jesus said to them, “A prophet is not without honor, except in his hometown and among his relatives and in his own household.” 5 And he could do no mighty work there, except that he laid his hands on a few sick people and healed them. 6 And he marveled because of their unbelief. And he went about among the villages teaching.

2. Is this a Sola Scriptura argument? Does the Bible say there are only three periods of time where God performs miracles?

· False - there are numerous accounts of God performing miracles outside of these three time periods. See point 3 below.

Jeremiah 32:20-21

You performed signs and wonders in Egypt and have continued them to this day, in Israel and among all mankind, and have gained the renown that is still yours. 21 You brought your people Israel out of Egypt with signs and wonders, by a mighty hand and an outstretched arm and with great terror.

· If Jeremiah’s statement is to be taken literally, he sees signs and wonders occurring in his own time (his ministry began in 626 BC and ended sometime after 586 BC) both in Israel and in other nations.

There is another inconsistency in this theory. MacArthur claims that Elijah and Elisha introduced the prophetic age. This is not true. It is Samuel who introduced the prophetic age. He was the prophet of whom it was said, “The Lord was with Samuel as he grew up, and he let none of Samuel’s words fall to the ground” (1 Samuel 3:19). Furthermore, at the time of Samuel there were already groups of prophets prophesying (1 Samuel 10:5). If MacArthur’s theory was accurate, we would expect the period of Samuel to be introduced with an outbreak of miracles which we did not see but actually the opposite. (1 Samuel 3:1 Now the boy Samuel ministered to the Lord before Eli. And the word of the Lord was rare in those days; there was no widespread revelation.)

· The miracles identified in the periods of time argument are recorded due to their essential role in redemptive history. If it were true that we didn’t have miracles recorded between Moses and Elijah, it would not prove that there weren’t any miracles, but rather that miracles were not recorded. (John 20:30-31 And truly Jesus did many other signs in the presence of His disciples, which are not written in this book; 31 but these are written that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that believing you may have life in His name. John 21:25 And there are also many other things that Jesus did, which if they were written one by one, I suppose that even the world itself could not contain the books that would be written. Amen.)

3. Biblical examples of miracles outside of the “three periods of time”:

Just a casual glance at the occurrences below will demonstrate that neither MacArthur nor anyone else can purge the abundance of supernatural events from the Old Testament by trying to cram them all into two brief time periods. Supernatural events are consistently spread over the entire Old Testament. What kind of supernatural events are we talking about here?

Tom Pennington’s definitions are as follows: “The word miracles is not common in our English translations. That isn’t because of the absence of miracles in biblical history, but because the writers of scripture under the inspiration of the Spirit, used other words. To capture the essence of and reasons for miracles, the Old Testament authors used Hebrew words translated as “signs,” “wonders,” and “power.”

The Hebrew word for “signs” means “pledges or attestations of the divine presence.” Miracles, then were signs that demonstrated God’s presence. The Hebrew word for “wonder” means a special display of God’s power that causes those who see it to wonder and awe. The word translated power was used in reference to miracles. This word can refer both to human and divine power but when used of miracles, it refers to the power of God in acts of deliverance and judgement.” Tom Pennington

The info below can be summarized in the following way:

• many appearances of the Lord to individuals

• many appearances of angels to individuals and even to groups of people

• supernatural rescues of individuals

• supernatural deliverances of groups and even the whole nation

• supernatural empowerment for:

• superhuman strength

• prophetic understanding and prophetic words for people who are not prophets

• supernatural guidance and direction in a variety of ways

• supernatural judgments:

• the destruction of individuals

• the destruction of armies

• the destruction of cities

• other supernatural judgments such as illness, blindness, insanity, and plagues

• supernatural dreams, trances, and visions

• supernaturally given interpretation of the above

• miraculous conceptions

• miraculous healings

• supernatural satanic and demonic interaction with man

• cosmic signs, such as the sunlight falling back ten steps, fire falling from heaven, and so on

• consistent prophetic ministry from the time of Samuel until the end of the Old Testament canon

· These are the kinds of things that occur throughout the Old Testament period. Nor is this all that occurs during the Old Testament period. With the exception of Daniel, I have not even surveyed any of the other prophetic books. For example, I have omitted things like the vision Isaiah had in the year that king Uzziah died, when Isaiah was caught up into heaven and commissioned for his prophetic ministry (Isaiah 6:1–13). Nor did I discuss the strange visions and happenings that Ezekiel experienced about 140 years later. We must remember that canonical prophets were in Israel through the time of Malachi (approximately 450–400 BC). So at least from the time of Samuel through Malachi, there is consistent prophetic ministry to Israel. Prophetic ministry is, of course, supernatural ministry. The book of Daniel is devastating to John MacArthur’s theory that the supernatural is basically confined to the periods of Moses and Joshua, and Elijah and Elisha. Daniel ministered from 605 to at least 539 BC, well beyond the time of Elijah and Elisha. Yet proportionately Daniel’s book contains more supernatural events than the books of Exodus through Joshua (the books dealing with the ministries of Moses and Joshua) and 1 Kings through 2 Kings 13 (the books dealing with the ministries of Elijah and Elisha). Every chapter in the book of Daniel has supernatural occurrences. With the exception of the book of Daniel, and possibly the book of Genesis, the periods of Moses and Joshua, and Elijah and Elisha, do show the greatest concentration of miracles in the Old Testament period. As the table shows, however, you cannot find any period in Israel’s history when supernatural events were not common among the people of God.

From Genesis to Moses

Genesis 1–3 The creation of the earth and the fall of mankind

Genesis 5:24 The rapture of Enoch

6:2–8 The sons of God (demonic beings) married the daughters of humans

6:9–8:19 The Noahic flood

11:1–9 The confusing of human language at the Tower of Babel

12:1–3 The supernatural call of Abraham

12:17 The plague on Pharaoh’s house

15:12–21 Abraham’s trance, the smoking firepot, and the blazing torch

16:7 The angel of the Lord appears to Hagar

17:1–27 The Lord appears to Abraham

18:1–15 The Lord and angels appear to Abraham and eat a meal with him

19:11 Angels blind the men of Sodom

19:23–25 The Lord destroys Sodom and Gomorrah

19:26 Lot’s wife is turned into a pillar of salt

20:3–18 God warns Abimelech in a dream not to touch Sarah

21:1–8 Sarah miraculously conceives Isaac 21:8–21 God supernaturally saves the life of Hagar and Ishmael

22:11 The angel of the Lord prevents Abraham from sacrificing Isaac

24:12 Abraham’s servant is supernaturally led to Rebekah 25:21 Rebekah supernaturally conceives twins

25:23 The Lord speaks to Rebekah concerning the destiny of the twins in her womb

26:2 The Lord appears to Isaac

26:24 The Lord appears to Isaac again

28:12–15 The Lord appears to Jacob

31:3 The Lord speaks to Jacob, commanding him to return to Canaan

32:1 Angels of God meet Jacob

32:24–32 Jacob wrestles with the angel of the Lord all night

35:9 God appears to Jacob and blesses him

37:5–11 Joseph’s dreams

38:7–10 The Lord kills Er and Onan

40:1–23 Joseph interprets the dreams of the cupbearer and the baker

41:1–40 Joseph interprets Pharaoh’s dream

Judges

2:1–5 The angel of the Lord appears to all Israel

3:9–11 The Spirit of the Lord empowers Othniel to deliver Israel

3:31 Shamgar kills six hundred Philistines with an oxgoad

4:4–10 Deborah prophesies to Barak

6:11 The angel of the Lord appears to Gideon

6:36 The miracle of Gideon’s fleece

7:1–25 The Lord sends divine panic against Midian so that Gideon can defeat them with only three hundred men

11:29–33 The Spirit of the Lord comes on Jephthah to deliver Israel from the Ammonites

13:3–5 The angel of the Lord appears to Manoah and his wife

14–16 Samson’s supernatural feats

1 Samuel

1 Samuel 1:19–20 Hannah supernaturally conceives Samuel

3:1–18 The Lord appears to Samuel the first time

3:19–21 The Lord lets none of Samuel’s words fall to the ground

5:1–5 The destruction of the idol Dagon

5:6–8 The Lord strikes the Philistines with tumors

6:19–20 The Lord kills some of the men of Beth Shemesh

9–10 Samuel’s prophetic ministry to Saul

10:20–25 Saul is chosen by lot to be king over Israel

11:6–11 The Spirit of the Lord empowers Saul to deliver Israel from the Ammonites

16:1–12 Samuel’s prophetic ministry to David

16:13 The Spirit of the Lord comes upon David

16:14 The Spirit of the Lord leaves Saul, and an evil spirit from the Lord terrorizes him

18:10–11 An evil spirit causes Saul to try to kill David

19:9–10 Again an evil spirit causes Saul to attempt to kill David

19:20–21 Three times the Spirit of the Lord comes on Saul’s messengers and they prophesy

19:23 The Spirit of the Lord comes on Saul and he prophesies

23:4, 10–12; 30:8 The Lord repeatedly gives supernatural guidance to David

28:12–19 Samuel appears from the dead to Saul

2 Samuel

2:1; 5:19, 23–24 The Lord gives supernatural guidance to David

6:7 The Lord kills Uzzah

7:5–17 Nathan prophesies to David

12:1–14 Nathan exposes David’s sin

12:15–17 The Lord kills David’s child

12:25 Nathan prophesies concerning Solomon

21:1 The Lord explains the cause of the famine to David

24:11 The Lord speaks to David through Gad and kills seventy thousand Israelites

1 Kings

3:4–15 The Lord appears to Solomon and grants him great wisdom

8:10–13 The glory of the Lord fills the temple

9:2–9 The Lord appears a second time to Solomon

11:11–13 The Lord tells Solomon that he will take the kingdom from him

11:29–39 The prophet Ahijah tells Jeroboam that the Lord has given him the tribes of Israel

13:1–6 A man of God prophesies the birth of Josiah; the Lord splits the altar at Bethel; and the Lord withers Jeroboam’s hand and then heals it

13:20–30 An old prophet prophesies the death of the man of God, and the Lord kills the man of God with a lion

14:5 The Lord prevents Jeroboam’s wife from deceiving the prophet Ahijah, and he prophesies judgment on Jeroboam’s house

16:1–4 Jehu prophesies judgment against Baasha

2 Kings 15:5 The Lord strikes Azariah with leprosy

19:20–34 Isaiah prophesies to Hezekiah concerning Sennacherib

19:35 The angel of the Lord kills 185,000 Assyrians

20:5–6 Isaiah prophesies to Hezekiah that the Lord will add fifteen years to his life

20:10–11 The Lord causes the sunlight to go back ten steps on the stairway of Ahaz

20:16–18 Isaiah prophesies judgment to Hezekiah

21:9–11 The Lord prophesies judgment on Judah through his prophets

22:14–20 The prophet Huldah prophesies judgment on Judah but blessing on Josiah

1 Chronicles

12:18 The Holy Spirit prompts Amasai to prophesy to David

21:1 Satan incites David to take a census of Israel

21:16 David sees the angel of the Lord

21:20 Araunah sees the same angel

21:26 The Lord sends fire from heaven to David’s altar

2 Chronicles

7:1 Fire comes down from heaven and consumes Solomon’s offerings

11:2 Shemaiah prophesies to King Rehoboam not to fight against Israel

12:5 Shemaiah prophesies against Rehoboam

12:7 Shemaiah prophesies again to Rehoboam that God will have a measure of mercy on him

13:15–18 God supernaturally delivers Judah

13:20 The Lord kills Jeroboam

14:12–15 The Lord supernaturally delivers Judah from the Cushites

15:1–7 Azariah prophesies to King Asa

16:7–9 Hanani the seer prophesies judgment on King Asa

25:7–9 A man of God prophesies to Amaziah not to take the army of Israel into battle with him

25:15–16 A prophet prophesies judgment on Amaziah for his idolatry

28:9–11 Oded prophesies judgment against the Israelite army if they refuse to release their captives from Judah

Ezra 5:1

Haggai and Zechariah prophesy to the Jews who are in Judah

Job

1–2 Supernatural satanic persecution of Job by God’s permission 38–42 God’s conversation with Job and the restoration of Job’s fortune

Daniel

2:1–45 God supernaturally reveals Nebuchadnezzar’s dream and its interpretation to Daniel

3:1–27 Daniel’s three friends walk in the fiery furnace with the preincarnate Christ and are preserved 4:19–27 Daniel interprets a second dream of Nebuchadnezzar

4:28–33 God afflicts Nebuchadnezzar with insanity

5:5–12 A hand supernaturally appears and writes Belshazzar’s judgment on the wall

5:17–28 Daniel interprets the writing

6:1–23 Daniel is supernaturally preserved in the den of lions

7–12 Supernatural visions of the last days and angelic visitations are given to Daniel

Deere, Jack . Why I Am Still Surprised by the Power of the Spirit: Discovering How God Speaks and Heals Today (pp. 293-298). Zondervan. Kindle Edition.

“There is no reference to miraculous gifts in the pastoral epistles.” What should we make of this?

In the first place, you should recognize this for what it is: an argument from silence. If we were to apply this notion to other things in Scripture, we would end up with disastrous consequences. Take but one example: the Lord’s Supper. The only place where it is explicitly mentioned is in 1 Corinthians 10-11. There is no reference to this ordinance subsequent to Paul’s first letter to the church in Corinth. Should we then conclude that the practice died out or that God has rescinded the command to partake of the elements of bread and wine? Of course not. Tom Pennington says that the lord's supper is a direct command and never retracted, but he denies the same exact test to gifts. Scripture gives us commands about gifts and never once retracts them. Tom said that one is descriptive and one is prescriptive but does not defend that scripturally.

Second, nowhere in the NT is it told that the command in 1 Corinthians 12-14 to earnestly desire spiritual gifts no longer applies to Christians living after the writing of that letter. Paul was crystal clear in his first epistle to the church in Corinth and, therefore, felt no need to repeat himself in subsequent letters.

Third, most believe Paul wrote 1 Corinthians in the spring of either 53, 54, or 55. He wrote Romans most likely in late 56 or early 57. And he clearly mentions and encourages the use of the gift of prophecy in Romans 12:6-8. So again, it is simply incorrect to say that such miraculous gifts are not mentioned after the writing of 1 Corinthians.

Fourth, Paul refers to the gifts of apostleship and prophecy in Ephesians 4:11. Most scholars agree that Ephesians was written in 62 a.d. So we have yet again another piece of evidence that the cessationist claim that miraculous gifts are not mentioned subsequent to 1 Corinthians is simply and undeniably false.

Fifth, if certain gifts like prophecy and tongues and healing were not intended to exist in the church beyond the first two or three decades of its existence, why doesn’t Paul or Peter or John or Luke clearly say so? When Paul gave his exhortation in 1 Thessalonians 5:19-21 not to despise prophetic utterances, why didn’t he simply tell them not to worry about prophecy since it was soon to die out and never to be a problem to anyone again?

Sixth, yet another clear refutation of the cessationist argument is Paul’s exhortation to Timothy that he draw on the prophecies made about him to fight a good fight and keep a clear conscience before God (1 Tim. 1:18-19). Here in one of the pastoral epistles we have an explicit reference to a supernatural gift and the role it plays in the process of sanctification.

Seventh, the book of Hebrews was most likely written in the late 60’s, just before the destruction of Jerusalem and its temple. We will return to Hebrews 2:3-4 in a later session, but here I simply note that there is something our author doesn’t say that many have simply assumed he did: he nowhere says that the miracles which attested to or confirmed (or “validated”) the message were performed only by those who originally heard the Lord.

The word translated “bore witness” sounds as if it is in the past tense, as if to suggest that God used to do this, that in the past he formerly bore witness by signs and wonders, but that he no longer does so in the present day. But the participle translated “bore witness” is in the present tense in Greek. Although that doesn’t prove my point, it certainly makes room for it (both grammatically and theologically). It means that it is entirely within the realm of possibility that even in the time during which the recipients of this letter were living God was still bearing witness to the truth of the gospel through signs, wonders, miracles, and spiritual gifts. In other words, as William Lane has noted, our author’s language suggests “that the corroborative evidence was not confined to the initial act of preaching but continued to be displayed within the life of the community”. Cessationist Tom Schreiner acknowledges this possibility and says that “perhaps the miracles described here were also ongoing in the life of the readers”.

Eighth, what will one do with Revelation 11? Aside from those who identify as full preterists, everyone must acknowledge that the events described there occur subsequent to the first century. Some believe the events of Revelation 11 will transpire in the final days just before the return of Christ, while others (such as myself) believe this chapter portrays the ministry of the church throughout the course of the present church age. In either case, we read in Revelation 11 of extensive prophesying and the presence of miraculous signs and wonders.

You may recall that cessationists always insist that if prophecy is operative beyond the close of the biblical canon, it compromises or undermines the finality and sufficiency of the 66 books of the Bible. But clearly that is not the case, as we read in this chapter about the prophetic ministry of the “two witnesses” and the miracles that accompanied their work.

Ninth, The argument in the film is that in the latter years of Paul’s ministry and beyond what he wrote in 1 Corinthians that miraculous gifts such as healing simply died out. If that were true, what will one do with the events described in Acts 28, toward the close of Paul’s life and ministry? There we read that Paul healed not only Publius but that when news of this spread “the rest of the people on the island who had diseases also came and were cured” (Acts 28:9).

Take Away:

1. Before you began this class, what degree of understanding of the Holy Spirit and His gifts do you think you had?

2. Have you ever thought much about cessation or continuation of the manifestation of the Spirit?

3. One goal of this class is to challenge the disciple to seriously look at your tradition, upbringing, and previously held beliefs and dive into the scripture to see what God says about this. Do you think you have been able to do this so far in the first three sessions?

4. What questions arose that you want to ask or have provoked you to do more study in? What practical steps will you take to answer those questions?