I've been rather frustrated for some time now trying to persuade people that some of their favorite teachers are not ones they should be listening to. Of course, when dealing with issues of discernment, one is usually preaching to the choir. Those who need to know don't want to, and those willing to listen already agree. If only there were a "magic bullet" that could blow most false teachers out of the water once and for all, especially regarding the Word of Faith, New Apostolic Reformation and the totality of what Costi Hinn has termed The Mystical Miracle Movement.
At the risk of offending quite a few people, I'm going to go out on a limb and say the the magic bullet does exist, and it's called cessationism. Cessationism is the view that the Apostolic gifts of healings, tongues and prophecy (new extra-biblical revelations) ceased with the deaths of the Apostles. Up until recently, I was not willing to be dogmatic about this but now I am - with the disclaimer that I know God can do anything but I've seen no convincing evidence that He is distributing the miraculous gifts in our present day. I've been in the process of writing a book on discernment and my interactions with the publisher have challenged my thinking. I wrote that I leaned towards cessationism but wouldn't go to the wall for it. My publisher didn't like that wording and gave me some arguments from scripture that I had to admit made sense.
If cessationism is true, then there are a lot of teachers and doctrines that can be instantly refuted. Let's sketch some out.
New Revelations - Cessationism states that God ceased giving new revelations (on a par with scripture) with the completion of the canon. If such new revelations are still happening, then they should be taken just as seriously as Scripture, which opens a huge can of worms. If prophecy has ceased, all those claiming to have gotten various doctrines via new revelations are automatically shown to be fraudulent. This would quickly disqualify the likes of the late Kenneth Hagin, Kenneth Copeland, Joyce Meyer, Benny Hinn, Bill Johnson, Kris Vallotton and too many others to list.
Healings - If healings have ceased, then we can clearly expose the likes of Benny Hinn, Todd White, and their forerunners like Smith Wigglesworth, Kathryn Kuhlman and Aimee Semple Macpherson as frauds and charlatans.
Tongues - If tongues have ceased then we have a problem with a huge contingent of folks who identify as charismatics.
However, I expect no one to blindly accept cessationism without providing a bit more evidence. Naturally, the charismatic world will cry foul, and even a significant number of conservative believers will also be averse to putting God in a box, so to speak. As with any doctrine, we must go to Scripture to support this idea of the miraculous gifts having ceased.
One of the most telling supports is found where Paul felt compelled to defend his Apostolic authority. His reading audience was generally aware that the original eleven disciples, plus Mattias (who replaced Judas) were close associates of Jesus, and could testify as eyewitnesses that they saw Jesus' death, burial and resurrection.
Some folks felt Paul did not meet these qualifications, yet he clearly does. He definitely had an encounter with the risen Christ on the road to Damascus, and was commissioned by Him. Furthermore, Paul was given the gifts of performing miraculous healings, feats which he specified as being "the signs of an Apostle."
This is merely an introduction to the topic, something to provoke some thoughts. Future posts will deal with the specific Scriptural supports for this topic. We will also address why the Apostles were given the miraculous gifts.
