The Clash of the Charismaniacs

Does God still manifest Himself supernaturally through "spiritual gifts" today? Do the gifts of tongues, interpretation of tongues, miracles, healings, and more still exist today or have they been "done away" with the completion of the Bible?

I was raised a cessationist. That's a $5 religious label that identifies those who believe the spiritual gifts displayed in Acts and talked about in many of Paul's writings ceased with the completion of the Bible. The primary biblical evidence cessationists use to prove this doctrine is found in 1 Corinthians 13:10 which reads as follows:

"But when that which is perfect is come, then that which is in part shall be done away."

The "that which is perfect" of 1 Corinthians 13:10 is universally interpreted as the completed Bible by cessationists; "...that which is in part..." are the spiritual gifts. The larger picture of the cessationist doctrine is the belief that God's use of spiritual gifts like tongues was a temporary proof of His presence and power in the absence of the "perfect" Word of God. With the complete canon in our hands, God's people no longer need tongues and healing miracles; all we need is the Word.

I have preached the cessationist doctrine for decades. I'd meet people who claimed to speak with tongues with skepticism and a cynical "yeah, right" attitude. I viewed those who believed in the contemporary existence of these spiritual gifts as "weird" (at best) or "heretics" (at worst).

Over the years I've seen a lot of ridiculous things performed by people in the name of God that were clearly not of divine origin. I've seen preachers lead an entire congregation in a chaotic march around the auditorium with everyone speaking, screaming and praying in tongues. I've watched a fiddle-playing worship leader "slay" people "in the Spirit" by pointing his instrument at them as he played. The auditorium looked like a Civil War battlefield after he finished the worship service. I've seen in that same service a woman who was "slain in the spirit" raise her hand to receive a door prize that she'd won in a drawing only to lapse right back into her slain state once the prize had been awarded.

If you've been involved in church-life for any length of time, you've seen silliness and foolishness in the name of God.

My question is, does the existence of carnal mimicry prove the cessationist's doctrine? Are these foolish acts proof that God does not use the spiritual manifestations described in Acts and spoken of all over the New Testament? Or, could the existence of these foolish things be a proof that the real deal actually exists? Certainly Satanic mimicry of supernatural manifestations are not unprecedented (Exodus 7:11-12). Is it possible these foolish things are machinations designed to mimic something that actually exists today?

Could it be that the cessationist doctrine is motivated more out of fear of association than of sound Biblical interpretation?

The truth is, I've seen things that I can not explain away. For all of the foolish things that I've seen over the years, I've also seen things that WERE of Divine origin. Things that absolutely obliterated my cessationist doctrine. I've witnessed a woman who was bound with a crippling back problem set free by the healing power of God through the hands of a submitted saint. I've watched men and women who have no hidden agenda or delusions of grandeur perform miraculous acts in the name of Christ and seen with my own eyes the supernatural power of God. I've been in a worship service so powerful that the conclusion of it was heralded by a thunderclap that was heard throughout the entire building on a cloudless day. Just the memory of that brings the tingles.

Could it be that man is guilty of throwing the baby out with the bathwater when it comes to this issue? Could cessationists be guilty of misinterpreting the scriptures because of our fears rather than our desire to "rightly divide the word of truth"? Could it be that God is still empowering submitted saints in supernatural ways?

I'll continue this in the next blog but to conclude this one I'd like to ask one more question in light of Peter's explanation to the question posed to him in Acts 2:12. Peter addresses the courtyard full of curious onlookers who want to know what is going on. Peter's explanation is a not quite verbatim quotation of Joel 2:28-32. Peter's interpretation of Joel 2 is to add the phrase "...in the last days..." (Acts 2:17). His explanation of the events on the Day of Pentecost was the biblical "last days" had arrived and the supernatural manifestations on display that day were the proof.

My question is, if the supernatural manifestations of God were the sign of the last days according to Peter, when did "the last days" end?