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We thought we had heard every argument in favor of cessationism, but this author offers a couple of truly odd twists. And he makes some glaringly false assertions.
We thought we had heard every argument in favor of cessationism, but this author offers a couple of truly odd twists. And he makes some glaringly false assertions.
A continuing complaint we have with these so-called Bible teachers is they are so averse to quoting the Bible. The author writes a little more 1500 words, but only 56 of them are actual quotes from the Bible.
(...)
Three tests regarding ongoing prophecy are set forth below, as well as the answers to two evasions.
Test 1
Test one involves asking, and getting answers to, these sorts of questions: Have you heard teaching by a modern prophet which is contrary to the Bible's teaching? Do renewalist prophecies contain false predictions? Do you know of a prophecy which was contradicted by events? One brother I know asked these questions to many renewalists and all of the people with whom he spoke said, “Yes!” What a damning indictment!
David Wilkerson, an Anglican Charismatic, predicted in 1972 that within the next twelve months the Berlin Wall would fall. But it fell 17 years later, in 1989!1 What did the church do in that instance? What did the church do in the many other instances where renewalist predictions have been proven false? If not in all cases, at least in the vast majority of them, Pentecostal and Charismatic congregations do absolutely nothing by way of church discipline. So much for the third mark of a true church (Belgic Confession 29)!
Deuteronomy 18:22 declares, “When a prophet speaketh in the name of the Lord, if the thing follow not, nor come to pass, that is the thing which the Lord hath not spoken, but the prophet hath spoken it presumptuously: thou shalt not be afraid of him.” Regarding a prophet who makes a prediction which does not happen, “that prophet shall die” (v. 20). I Corinthians 5 tells us that the New Testament equivalent is excommunication. (Well, no. 1 Corinthians 5 is about sexually immoral people, not false prophets. There is only one place false prophets are mentioned, 2 Peter 2:1:
Test 1
Test one involves asking, and getting answers to, these sorts of questions: Have you heard teaching by a modern prophet which is contrary to the Bible's teaching? Do renewalist prophecies contain false predictions? Do you know of a prophecy which was contradicted by events? One brother I know asked these questions to many renewalists and all of the people with whom he spoke said, “Yes!” What a damning indictment!
David Wilkerson, an Anglican Charismatic, predicted in 1972 that within the next twelve months the Berlin Wall would fall. But it fell 17 years later, in 1989!1 What did the church do in that instance? What did the church do in the many other instances where renewalist predictions have been proven false? If not in all cases, at least in the vast majority of them, Pentecostal and Charismatic congregations do absolutely nothing by way of church discipline. So much for the third mark of a true church (Belgic Confession 29)!
Deuteronomy 18:22 declares, “When a prophet speaketh in the name of the Lord, if the thing follow not, nor come to pass, that is the thing which the Lord hath not spoken, but the prophet hath spoken it presumptuously: thou shalt not be afraid of him.” Regarding a prophet who makes a prediction which does not happen, “that prophet shall die” (v. 20). I Corinthians 5 tells us that the New Testament equivalent is excommunication. (Well, no. 1 Corinthians 5 is about sexually immoral people, not false prophets. There is only one place false prophets are mentioned, 2 Peter 2:1:
2Pe. 2:1 But there were also false prophets among the people, just as there will be false teachers among you. They will secretly introduce destructive heresies, even denying the sovereign Lord who bought them — bringing swift destruction on themselves.
But even here Peter was specifically dealing with false teachers. And despite a lengthy condemnation he offers no remedy for them. In fact, there is no remedy for false prophecies in the entire NT.
Generally speaking, the counsel of the NT is to not fellowship with those who claim to be Christians yet are sinners:
1Co. 5:11 But now I am writing to you that you must not associate with anyone who calls himself a brother but is sexually immoral or greedy, an idolater or a slanderer, a drunkard or a swindler. With such a man do not even eat.
We simply do not find any NT mention of false prophets being cast out of the church.
We say all this because the author draws a parallel between killing false prophets in the OT and excommunicating false prophets in the NT. But this parallel does not exist. Which means the author has appealed to an OT text where the remedy is death. If a prophet must be 100% accurate, and that standard applies today, then why doesn't the death part of the verse apply today? Why should we accept the author picking and choosing this criteria?)
Has anyone heard of a Pentecostal being excommunicated because his or her prophecies were not fulfilled? Perhaps such a thing occasionally happens but if so it is exceedingly rare!
The Kansas City Prophets maintain that, if two-thirds of their prophecies come true, that is "pretty good," for that is a lot higher than it has ever been up until then! All the Kansas City Prophets have admitted that they have made predictions which did not come to pass. The Charismatic John White, who prophesied that he was going to live but subsequently died, said that, since we are all human beings, modern prophets will make mistakes in their predictions (even though God is speaking through them)!2
Do you know how many false prophecies it takes to reveal a person as a false prophet? One! Just one! Anyone who utters a single false prediction in God's name and remains impenitent should be excommunicated as a liar and a false prophet. (No, he must be killed. Perhaps we might press the author into service to administer the coup de grâce, unless of course he doesn't actually believe the Bible.)
Test 2
Imagine a Pentecostal prophet who makes a prediction that actually happens. However, the one who predicted it teaches false doctrine. How do we evaluate such a thing?
Deuteronomy 13:1-5 deals with this and so provides us with our second test. Verse 1 speaks of a prophet who performs "a sign or a wonder" which comes to pass (v. 2). (A prophecy is not "a sign or a wonder.")
The Kansas City Prophets maintain that, if two-thirds of their prophecies come true, that is "pretty good," for that is a lot higher than it has ever been up until then! All the Kansas City Prophets have admitted that they have made predictions which did not come to pass. The Charismatic John White, who prophesied that he was going to live but subsequently died, said that, since we are all human beings, modern prophets will make mistakes in their predictions (even though God is speaking through them)!2
Do you know how many false prophecies it takes to reveal a person as a false prophet? One! Just one! Anyone who utters a single false prediction in God's name and remains impenitent should be excommunicated as a liar and a false prophet. (No, he must be killed. Perhaps we might press the author into service to administer the coup de grâce, unless of course he doesn't actually believe the Bible.)
Test 2
Imagine a Pentecostal prophet who makes a prediction that actually happens. However, the one who predicted it teaches false doctrine. How do we evaluate such a thing?
Deuteronomy 13:1-5 deals with this and so provides us with our second test. Verse 1 speaks of a prophet who performs "a sign or a wonder" which comes to pass (v. 2). (A prophecy is not "a sign or a wonder.")
But this prophet also teaches false doctrine (v. 2). (Prophets are not teachers.)
Even though his sign or wonder or prediction came to pass, he too is to be put to death as a false prophet (v. 5) or, in New Testament terms, excommunicated. (The author keeps equivocating. Why does he shrink back from killing false prophets?)
Deuteronomy 13 explains that God's purpose in all this is to test His professing people. If you really love God with all your heart and keep His commandments, even though someone does wonderful signs, because he teaches false doctrine, you must renounce him and excommunicate him (vv. 3-5). (No, this passage does not say that. It's right there:
Deuteronomy 13 explains that God's purpose in all this is to test His professing people. If you really love God with all your heart and keep His commandments, even though someone does wonderful signs, because he teaches false doctrine, you must renounce him and excommunicate him (vv. 3-5). (No, this passage does not say that. It's right there:
Deuteronomy 13:5 That prophet or dreamer must be put to death...
We are wondering why the author wants so badly to modify the plain statements of Scripture. Hopefully we will find out.)
If tomorrow morning's newspapers carry accounts of remarkable prognostications by the Pentecostals that have been fulfilled—let us say, the nation's capital is destroyed by an earthquake and prophets from a Pentecostal assembly had predicted this—we still would not receive them as Christ's messengers. Why? Because mixed in with their proclamations comes Arminian free-willism and other false doctrine. (??? Calvinists usually don't go this far, to proclaim that those who don't believe Calvinist doctrines are all false teachers. Usually a Calvinist regards non-Calvinists as saved but mistaken.
If tomorrow morning's newspapers carry accounts of remarkable prognostications by the Pentecostals that have been fulfilled—let us say, the nation's capital is destroyed by an earthquake and prophets from a Pentecostal assembly had predicted this—we still would not receive them as Christ's messengers. Why? Because mixed in with their proclamations comes Arminian free-willism and other false doctrine. (??? Calvinists usually don't go this far, to proclaim that those who don't believe Calvinist doctrines are all false teachers. Usually a Calvinist regards non-Calvinists as saved but mistaken.
Just so the reader understands, the author is making the Calvinistic claim that God predetermines everyone who is saved, and thus no one is able to make a decision for Christ. They are saved at the precise moment God has preordained. This means there is no free will to choose salvation.
Also, an "Arminian" is simply a Christian who isn't a Calvinist.)
God would thereby be testing you: “Do you love me? Do you love the truth? Or are you more interested in the signs and wonders of a false church?” (The author attempts to apply OT promises made to Israel to the Church.)
Test 3
To go further, here is a third test. Let us say, for sake of argument, that there is a man who claims to be a Christian prophet and who makes predictions that always come to pass and who teaches orthodox doctrines. (So, even passing the first two tests is not enough?)
Test 3
To go further, here is a third test. Let us say, for sake of argument, that there is a man who claims to be a Christian prophet and who makes predictions that always come to pass and who teaches orthodox doctrines. (So, even passing the first two tests is not enough?)
What would you do then? You ought to remember Ephesians 2:20, which states that "the apostles and prophets" are "the foundation" of Christ's church. (The author is inexplicably reluctant to quote the Bible, so we shall do his work for him:
Ep. 2:19-21 Consequently, you are no longer foreigners and aliens, but fellow-citizens with God’s people and members of God’s household, 20 built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, with Christ Jesus himself as the chief cornerstone. 21 In him the whole building is joined together and rises to become a holy temple in the Lord.
We first note the obvious: Paul was describing the church, not expounding upon apostleship or prophets. Second, forming the foundation of the church is not the sole role of apostles or prophets. Third, the possible existence of modern day apostles or prophets does not require construction of a new foundation.)
This foundation was laid in the first century and, being a foundation, can never again be relaid or augmented! (It is a mystery why the author thinks the foundation of the Church would be relaid. Yet the author's emphatic assertion suggests it's a significant issue.)
The doctrine of the apostles and prophets, the foundation, is found in the complete, sufficient, inerrant and infallible Word of God. (Whoops. That's why we should actually quote verses. There is no mention of the apostle's doctrine or the resultant Bible here.
The author is trying to change the topic by substituting the ministry of the apostles and prophets in establishing the Church with the things they wrote down that became the Bible. We shall not allow him to move the goalposts.)
Therefore, whether or not an extra-biblical prediction comes to pass, and whether or not their other doctrines are orthodox, any person who claims to be a prophet who receives direct revelation from the Lord is, by definition, a liar and a false prophet. Why? Because God is no longer giving direct revelation, since He has already laid the foundation of His church in the Holy Scriptures He delivered by the apostles and prophets whom He sent almost 2,000 years ago! (The author's exuberance is inexplicable. He thinks he's tossed down the trump card of his argument, but he's actually playing a different game.
Therefore, whether or not an extra-biblical prediction comes to pass, and whether or not their other doctrines are orthodox, any person who claims to be a prophet who receives direct revelation from the Lord is, by definition, a liar and a false prophet. Why? Because God is no longer giving direct revelation, since He has already laid the foundation of His church in the Holy Scriptures He delivered by the apostles and prophets whom He sent almost 2,000 years ago! (The author's exuberance is inexplicable. He thinks he's tossed down the trump card of his argument, but he's actually playing a different game.
In order to make this claim, the author makes several assumptions based on unestablished premises:
- Prophecy is the same as the Bible
- Prophecy's only purpose was to become the Bible
- The completion of the Bible means prophecy has ceased
- The foundation of the Church was the Bible
The author hasn't demonstrated any of these things, he merely assumes them.)
Two Evasions
There are two main attempts to wriggle out of this. The first evasion is the claim that there are two types of prophecy: inerrant and infallible prophecy found in the Bible, and fallible and errant modern prophecy which can and does include mistakes. This is the teaching of Wayne Grudem, amongst others.
This ought to strike you as a wretched argument, one to which the renewalists have been driven simply because they know (and practically everybody else knows) that there are numerous failed prophecies in the Pentecostal, Charismatic and Neo-Charismatic movements. Direct revelation from God is, by definition, authoritative, inerrant and infallible, ("By definition?" This is the matter under discussion. The author is not permitted to use his premise as evidence.
Two Evasions
There are two main attempts to wriggle out of this. The first evasion is the claim that there are two types of prophecy: inerrant and infallible prophecy found in the Bible, and fallible and errant modern prophecy which can and does include mistakes. This is the teaching of Wayne Grudem, amongst others.
This ought to strike you as a wretched argument, one to which the renewalists have been driven simply because they know (and practically everybody else knows) that there are numerous failed prophecies in the Pentecostal, Charismatic and Neo-Charismatic movements. Direct revelation from God is, by definition, authoritative, inerrant and infallible, ("By definition?" This is the matter under discussion. The author is not permitted to use his premise as evidence.
When the author says "authoritative" he means that every prophecy is on the level of Scripture. Therefore, a modern prophet is uttering words that need to be included in the Bible. This of course is nonsense. There are many prophets mentioned in the NT, and only two NT prophecies are mentioned, both by Agabus. No prophecies from Philip's four daughters. None from Silas. Not even any from some of the apostles. So how is it possible that all these NT prophets do not have any recorded prophecies, but modern day prophecies must be regarded as authoritative?)
for He is the God of truth who "cannot lie" (Titus 1:2), unlike the renewalist prophets and their apologists.
The second evasion—and this one is increasingly popular—is that God speaks today to unevangelized heathen (especially, it would appear, to Muslims) by dreams or visions. (Dreams and visions are not prophecies.)
The second evasion—and this one is increasingly popular—is that God speaks today to unevangelized heathen (especially, it would appear, to Muslims) by dreams or visions. (Dreams and visions are not prophecies.)
A number of former Muslims have said that Christ appeared to them in their Islamic lands in a dream or vision and told them to go to such and such a place to hear God's Word from such and such a church or person.
There are even a number of Presbyterian and Reformed people who accept their claims. For some of these Protestants, this is the start of their own descent to Pentecostalism or Charismaticism, while for others, at the very least, it weakens their grasp of the truth of the sufficiency of Scripture (This comes in from left field. How would a dream impact the sufficiency of Scripture? What does the author mean by this?
There are even a number of Presbyterian and Reformed people who accept their claims. For some of these Protestants, this is the start of their own descent to Pentecostalism or Charismaticism, while for others, at the very least, it weakens their grasp of the truth of the sufficiency of Scripture (This comes in from left field. How would a dream impact the sufficiency of Scripture? What does the author mean by this?
We will explain. "Sufficiency" for the author means done, no more, all there is. The conventional meaning of the word, i.e., adequate, enough, or the right amount, is not in view here. So if "sufficient" means no more, and a dream is information from God, the dream is prophecy. That means the dream is "authoritative" and must be added to the Bible. But since the Bible is "sufficient," such things cannot be added to the Bible, and thus are false.
So via two false definitions and twisted logic the author pronounces modern day revelation as false.)
and their opposition to the heresy of ongoing revelation.
Setting aside questions about the sort of church or Christian (whether true or false) these Muslims went to, and to what sort of Jesus they were converted (whether the true Christ or a false Christ), we deny that God gives direct revelation through dreams or visions, even to unevangelized heathen, even in Islamic countries. We do this because receiving a revelatory dream or vision from God, especially one that does not declare divine judgment upon the recipient (cf. Dan. 2; 4), constitutes a person as a prophet.
A prophet has two aspects to his office. First, he receives direct revelation from God and, second, he passes it on to the people. But the extraordinary office of a prophet has ceased since it was a temporary office involved in the laying of the foundation of the New Testament church (Eph. 2:20). (He repeats himself.)
Setting aside questions about the sort of church or Christian (whether true or false) these Muslims went to, and to what sort of Jesus they were converted (whether the true Christ or a false Christ), we deny that God gives direct revelation through dreams or visions, even to unevangelized heathen, even in Islamic countries. We do this because receiving a revelatory dream or vision from God, especially one that does not declare divine judgment upon the recipient (cf. Dan. 2; 4), constitutes a person as a prophet.
A prophet has two aspects to his office. First, he receives direct revelation from God and, second, he passes it on to the people. But the extraordinary office of a prophet has ceased since it was a temporary office involved in the laying of the foundation of the New Testament church (Eph. 2:20). (He repeats himself.)
Today, instead, we have the ordinary office of prophet included in the office of believer. This is a permanent office given to all Christians, in which we search the Scriptures and by the Spirit know the mind of Jesus Christ, and then speak of Him to others. (The author's sparse Scriptural documentation suddenly disappears.)
What we need today is not false prophets or false prophecies but the proper exercise of the believer's office as prophet, so that he hears, loves, obeys and witnesses of Jesus Christ, as He is set forth in Scripture and through the faithful preaching of His gospel by true ministers in their office of pastor or teacher. (Still no Scriptural documentation, especially since this is an astonishing claim.
What we need today is not false prophets or false prophecies but the proper exercise of the believer's office as prophet, so that he hears, loves, obeys and witnesses of Jesus Christ, as He is set forth in Scripture and through the faithful preaching of His gospel by true ministers in their office of pastor or teacher. (Still no Scriptural documentation, especially since this is an astonishing claim.
The pastor's sermon is prophecy???
This means that when a pastor is preaching he is prophesying to the congregation. The congregants all possess the "office" of prophet, which is the illumination of the Spirit to understand Scripture. This means the congregation [prophets] do not prophesy, the pastor [not a prophet] prophesies to the prophets.
We long for a single Scripture to document any of this. If this crazy mess makes any sense at all, our hats are off to you.)
Where love for the faith once delivered to the saints (Jude 3) is lost, there is a congregation or an individual wide open to renewalism. Where love for God, His Christ and His Word is strong, the church is based solidly on the only true foundation and so is totally uninterested in the siren song of false prophets and ongoing prophecy!
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