I was listening to a sermon recently by one of my first Pastors in Pentecostalism. This is a man I put great trust in and grew to love him and his family dearly. We were about the same age so our boys played together, and we ate at each other's table. Our families were very close, and his influence in my life was greater than any previous Pastor I had known.
In the sermon, he told the story of how he personally prayed for a young child that had been dead for 4 days and raised it back to life. He told of the time he was preaching and God told him to call a man in the congregation up for prayer. The man had been in an accident and had gotten his foot caught in some machinery and his foot was crushed and it was said he would never walk again. God told him to take the man's foot and beat it against the floor three times. The man was reluctant to allow it because of the pain, but after doing so the Lord immediately and totally healed him. What before was just a limp lump of crushed flesh was now a brand-new foot. He told of the time he prayed for a 14-year-old girl that had been born without a spine. After several operations, she now had a 10-inch steel rod in her back supporting her. After praying for her he told her to touch the floor with the palms of her hands. She immediately became flexible and was able to do so. She came back a few days later in another service and presented X-Rays of her spine before and after. The steel rod had disappeared and a brand new spine was in its place. He told of the time a woman came to him and wanted him to pray for her daughter that was in a mental hospital. He had two peppermint candies in his pocket. He took those mints out and prayed over them in Jesus's Name and told the lady to give them to her daughter. By the end of the week, the hospital called the woman and told her to come and get her daughter, she was normal. All of these things affirm his calling as a modern-day Prophet and Apostle.
The difficulty of this is, because of who he is, I still want to believe this man after many years of absence. Compounding the difficulty, his whole family affirms what he says, a whole congregation of people whom I love and trust affirms him still to be trustworthy. However, the substance of our faith must rest in scripture alone and not the words or experiences of men. We as Christians at one time placed everything upon what the Bible says, and men often quote the Bible saying, "Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today, and forever." (Hebrews 13:8) They imply since he does not change and he did signs, wonders, and miracles then he must still do so now. It was an argument a young scripturally naive man like myself found reasonable.
I have come to understand what the Bible says is more than a phrase quoted without its context. There was a friend at work who told me one time, "you can make the Bible say anything you want it to". That's a common argument for those who want to reject its authority.
In this series so far the emphasis has been on Pentecostalism, its practice, and behavioral experiences. Very little has been mentioned concerning Cessationism as understood in Christianity. Let's begin by defining Cessationism. The word is not in Webster, only cessation, which is defined as: "a temporary or final ceasing (as of action)" Theopedia defines Cessationism stating, "in Christian theology, is the view that the miraculous gifts of the Spirit, such as healing, tongues, and prophetic revelation, pertained to the apostolic era only, served a purpose that was unique to establishing the early church, and passed away before the canon of Scripture was closed (comp. 1 Cor. 13:8-12 with Heb. 2:3-4)." The purpose was to affirm and validate the words and actions of the Gospel message. The Apostle Paul uses this argument as a ground for his authority in 2 Corinthians 12:12 ESV
(12) The signs of a true apostle were performed among you with utmost patience, with signs and wonders and mighty works. The use of the word "true apostle" would seem there were those claiming apostleship, but a distinction was made between the true and the false by the works.
Cessationism states these signs, wonders, and mighty works as done by these men ceased as the church was firmly established. However, Cessationism does not promote the idea that miracles, healing, and God's governance have ceased in the world today, only the apostolic gifts and office. Cessationism would confirm by the process of prayer the bringing forth of healing or some miraculous work through his divine providence. The contrast would be Peter in Acts 9:32-35 ESV
(32) Now as Peter went here and there among them all, he came down also to the saints who lived at Lydda.
(33) There he found a man named Aeneas, bedridden for eight years, who was paralyzed.
(34) And Peter said to him, “Aeneas, Jesus Christ heals you; rise and make your bed.” And immediately he rose.
(35) And all the residents of Lydda and Sharon saw him, and they turned to the Lord.
Cessationism would suggest that Peter's Apostolic office and gift are no longer operating in the church. It would however embrace a Christian walking in and praying for one like Aeneas and perhaps later hearing they had unexpectedly recovered and regained their health. Cessationism allows for God through His providential means to provide for and meet the needs of his people and accomplish His will and purpose. It appears more miraculous to me for God to govern the acts of an untold number of events and circumstances to bring about a particular purpose than to do it in one miraculous act.
Acts 8:30-38 ESV
(30) So Philip ran to him and heard him reading Isaiah the prophet and asked, “Do you understand what you are reading?”
(31) And he said, “How can I, unless someone guides me?” And he invited Philip to come up and sit with him.
(32) Now the passage of the Scripture that he was reading was this: “Like a sheep he was led to the slaughter and like a lamb before its shearer is silent, so he opens not his mouth.
(33) In his humiliation justice was denied him. Who can describe his generation? For his life is taken away from the earth.”
(34) And the eunuch said to Philip, “About whom, I ask you, does the prophet say this, about himself or about someone else?”
(35) Then Philip opened his mouth, and beginning with this Scripture he told him the good news about Jesus.
(36) And as they were going along the road they came to some water, and the eunuch said, “See, here is water! What prevents me from being baptized?”
(38) And he commanded the chariot to stop, and they both went down into the water, Philip and the eunuch, and he baptized him.
This is a wonderful example of Christian conversion, you have a man reading the scriptures not quite sure of his understanding. Another man comes to his aid explaining how it is to be understood and the Gospel's meaning. The Holy Spirit so working upon the mind that a clear understanding is achieved and faith arises. Having repented and believed the Gospel, he inquires concerning baptism. The requirements being met, he is baptized in water and begins his Christian walk. Notice the simplicity of the Gospel, no fire tunnels, no being slain in the spirit, no speaking in tongues, no signs and wonders, nothing but faith and repentance necessary. As this man left that day, his life would be changed. How would he now live? How would he now think? We do not know how much doctrinal understanding he had received that day from Phillip, but he began like the rest of us on a journey of studying the scriptures and learning Christian doctrine. Through the teachings of Christ and the Apostles, their writings, and the Old Testament Scriptures, the Christian church learned and grew. Ephesians 2:19-22 ESV
(19) So then you are no longer strangers and aliens, but you are fellow citizens with the saints and members of the household of God,
(20) built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Christ Jesus himself being the cornerstone,
(21) in whom the whole structure, being joined together, grows into a holy temple in the Lord.
(22) In him you also are being built together into a dwelling place for God by the Spirit.
This in its essence I think is what Jude was referring to in Jude 1:3 ESV
(3) Beloved, although I was very eager to write to you about our common salvation, I found it necessary to write appealing to you to contend for the faith that was once for all delivered to the saints. This common salvation and the Christian faith was once and for all time delivered to the saints, it was not to be altered or changed. It is that faith we as Christians are to hold to and long to preserve.
Most likely the understanding the Ethiopian eunuch left with that day would have been very similar to what is seen in the Apostles Creed. It was so named as a sum and substance of the early Apostolic teaching that the disciples would have taught. The earliest version found is A.D. 215.
Who was conceived of the Holy Spirit, born of the Virgin Mary, suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified, died, and was buried.
He descended into hell. The third day He arose again from the dead.
He ascended into heaven and sits at the right hand of God the Father Almighty, whence He shall come to judge the living and the dead.
I believe in the Holy Spirit, the holy catholic church, the communion of saints, the forgiveness of sins, the resurrection of the body, and life everlasting.
Amen.
For the protestant reader, the term "holy catholic church" does not refer to the church in Rome. Catholic is a term meaning the universal church, it is in connection to the statement by Jude concerning the one faith delivered to the saints for all time. There is only one true universal church and it consists of and rests upon the foundation of the Apostles and Prophets, Jesus Christ being the chief cornerstone. It is upon that foundation alone that Christian doctrine resides. (Ephesians 2:19-22)
We also have a document called the Didache, simply meaning "Teaching". It is a collection of instructions drawn from the teachings of the Apostles as well. The Didache was widely read by the early church and used much like the great Confessions of the Reformation. It consists of various parts, starting with the “Two Ways” ethical instruction and including community rules for liturgical practices and leadership conduct, before ending with a short apocalyptic section. While some of the material is dated before the year 100, the current form of the document is probably mid-second century at the earliest. It gives instructions concerning baptisms and the Communion meal along with other church activities. Today, one feels like they are navigating a maze trying to discern what Christian doctrine actually is. Churches are so diverse from one another that you can call them anything but a universal church. Discovering the early church creeds gave me a compass to navigate with. I realized the doctrine laid down in those early creeds we scripturally based and those core beliefs were consistent in the true church throughout its history. I found more solid ground reading the early church liturgies. I realized, if I were to walk upon a church service from 2,000 years ago, even without knowing their language, just by observance I would recognize it as a church service. That is how consistent the Christian Church has been in history.
Within the Didache you find statements such as these:
1. Whosoever then comes and teaches you all these things aforesaid, receive him.
2. But if the teacher himself be perverted and teach another doctrine to destroy these things, do not listen to him, but if his teaching is for the increase of righteousness and knowledge of the Lord, receive him as the Lord.
3. And concerning the Apostles and Prophets, act thus according to the ordinance of the Gospel.
The Church in its beginning was very serious about maintaining orthodoxy. If anyone were to bring such behavior as we are seeing in the Pentecostal churches today into their fellowship, it most certainly would be brought into question. In all the early liturgical practices recorded in the first few centuries, we find no instructions for practices such as "slain in the spirit, fire tunnels, impartations, dancing, running, jumping, or any of the Pentecostal manifestations we see today.
Like many in Pentecostalism, Montanism taught that, ultimately, any believer at all, could become a “prophet” for Christ had promised the Paraclete or Holy Spirit to all believers.
Montanist worship services included prophetic declarations much like we see today on Christian television. Another belief was to minimize entanglements with the physical world. According to historical accounts, Montanus, a recent Christian convert, appeared at Ardabau, a small village in Phrygia in about 156 AD. He fell into a trance-like state similar to the Pentecostal "Slain in the Spirit" doctrine and began to “prophesy under the influence of the Spirit.” He was soon joined by the two young women, Prisca and Maximilla, who also began to prophesy and they would eventually introduce women into church leadership. The movement spread throughout Asia Minor and inscriptions have indicated that a number of towns were almost completely converted to Montanism. This was no small controversy and troubled the church extensively. They insisted on being called Christian and possessing the true Christian doctrine. They were eventually deemed a heresy, however, they had gained such a large following it took over 400 years for it to finally fade away.
The Church recognized that the Montanist prophecies were of a different order. True prophets did not, as Montanus did, deliberately induce a kind of ecstatic intensity and a state of passivity and then maintain that the words they spoke were the voice of the Spirit. It also became clear that the claim of Montanus to have the final revelation of the Holy Spirit implied that something could be added to the teaching of Christ and the Apostles and that, therefore, the church had to accept a fuller revelation. The tongues speaking also was like the Pentecostals today consisting of a non-discernable jibberish instead of known languages as demonstrated in the Apostolic record. Before its popularity waned, even Tertullian, the great defender of the Christian faith became a convert.
Acquaint yourself with the early Church creeds and confessions as most of these heresies have been fought and defeated by previous generations and Orthodox teachings reaffirmed. For those outside of the Christian faith, I would implore you to avoid what is seen today on Christian media. I would instead direct you as well to the scriptures and early church teachings for an understanding of true Christian faith.
David
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