#1515 Run It's Course

 

Love never fails, but if there are gifts of prophecy, they will be done away; if there are tongues, they will cease; if there is knowledge, it will be done away. 9 For we know in part and we prophesy in part, 10 but when the perfect comes, the partial will be done away. 11 When I was a child, I used to speak like a child, think like a child, reason like a child. When I became a man, I did away with childish things. 12 For now we see in a mirror dimly, but then face to face. Now I know in part, but then I will know fully just as I also have been fully known. 13 But now abide faith, hope, love—these three; but the greatest of these is love. 1 Corinthians 13: 8-13 LSB

Warning - To hopefully avoid some confusion here, let it be understood that these posts are part of an ongoing conversation between me and a friend, who is Pentecostal but who I also believe to be a brother in Christ. There is no disrespect of people intended. This will include posts #1511 to #1515.

What is it continued

It is something that "will cease": This is where we get the word cessationist from, people who believe that tongues would stop and even have in regards to the gift seen in the early church. It is no more an invention of John Macarthur then the doctrines of predestination and election were of John Calvin. It's in our Bible and needs to be understood through careful examination.  

Now, our Pentecostal and Charismatic brothers and sisters tell us that the gifts have never ceased yet, so the when is future, and they will cease in the future. And some of them say it will occur when the perfect thing comes that is mentioned in verse 10. And that’s still in the future, they tell us. Others say – and I heard this this week. A very prominent pastor and Bible teacher said that “All the gifts have already ceased, all of them. There are no spiritual gifts today.” That’s the other extreme.

The Charismatics, they’re all in; this particular person believes they’re all out. And then there are some who say, “Some are in and some are out.” Which is correct? Well, let’s look at the Bible and find out because it has a way of revealing those kinds of things. Incidentally, I might add that Charismatic people who say they're all in often give this argument. They say, “There's not one verse in the Bible that says tongues have ceased. And since there’s not one verse in the Bible that says tongues have ceased, that settles it for us. They haven’t.” They’re right about the fact that not one verse says that. That’s true.

But do you want to hear something interesting? There is not one verse in the Bible that says God is three in one. Is He? Yes. That’s not a very good argument. To argue that something is true because the Bible doesn’t say it is weak. And to argue that you need a statement in one verse to prove a point is weak, because there are many things in the Bible that are indicated to us by the totality of Scripture rather than any one given statement.

For example, you can’t take one single, simple Bible verse and drop it in front of a Jehovah’s Witness that says, “Jesus is 100 percent God, 100 percent man at the same time in an indivisible oneness.” But that is the essence of the God-Man, isn’t it? But we’ve got to go all over the place, finding little bits and pieces of the theology of Christ to put together the total portrait. So that’s not a good argument to use. They – they should have some other argument if they – if they want to defend that point and perhaps they do have other arguments.

So we have on the one hand, “They’re all in, they’re all out; some in, some out.” Well, let’s go into verse 8. We know they're all going to cease sometime, they’re all going to be rendered inoperative. Now, I want to notice – have you notice one thing, right off the bat, that’s very important. The apostle Paul and the Holy Spirit make an immediate distinction between tongues and prophecy and knowledge. And they indicate here – the words that are used, that tongues will cease at a different time than prophecy and knowledge. Very important point.

There is a clear indication at the very beginning, as you look at the verse, that they’re going to cease, but not at the same time. And I’ll show you why I say that. Notice the phrase, “They shall be done away.” With prophecies, it says “They shall be done away.” Or “they shall be rendered inoperative,” or “they shall be abolished,” or whatever your version says. It’s the first verb right after prophecies. Then the – the last one in verse 8, “whether there be knowledge, it shall be done away.” Vanished away, be rendered inoperative, be ended or whatever your Bible says. Those two, the one on prophecy and knowledge, are the same verb in the Greek.

Now, don't get lost. You may not know much Greek, but hang in there and you’ll understand the point I’m making. The verb, for you Greek students, is katargeō. It is the first and the third verb. It is used with prophecy and knowledge. It is not the verb used with the word “tongues will cease.” That's a totally different word. Now, when we see that, we know immediately that there is a purpose in the mind of the Holy Spirit for making a distinction in those terms, and we want to understand what it is.

Katargeō means “to be made inoperative.” It is a very, very important thing for us to understand. To be made inoperative. Prophecy will be done away; knowledge will be done away. And, incidentally, they are translated different in English. They're the same in Greek. But the word used with tongues in the middle of the verse, Tongues, they shall cease, is a totally different word. It’s the word pauō. PAUO, if you wanted an English rendering. And that word means “to stop.” That’s it, “to stop.”

So the first distinction that is very interesting in the verse, is the distinction between two kinds of Greek words, which gives us a little different feeling for what the Spirit of God is saying about prophecy and knowledge, and what He’s saying about tongues. And I would just add this. The second thing is that they are different voices. Now, voice in the English – you have to reach way back now, some of you. You remember there’s two kinds of voice. What are they? Active and passive, okay.

The first and the third verb, katargeō, with prophecy and knowledge, are passive. They're passive verbs. Now, my English teacher told me that when a passive verb is in a subject, the subject – or in a sentence, the subject what? Receives the action. So something is acting upon the subject to stop it. Now, notice again, and I’ll clarify. It is a passive. “Where there be prophecies, they shall be done away.” In other words, something is going to come and stop prophecy. It’s a passive verb. Prophecy will be acted upon by some other force to stop it. It’s the same in knowledge. Knowledge shall be acted upon by some other force to stop it. Now, we even know what it is.

Look at verse 9. “We know in part,” that’s the knowledge; “We prophesy in part,” that’s prophecy. “But when that which is perfect is come, then that which is in part shall be done away.” And there's the same word, katargeō, again. What is it that’s going to come and stop prophecy and stop knowledge? The perfect thing, right. It says it. “When that which is perfect comes, it will stop knowledge and prophecy.” So we know what it is; it’s the perfect thing.

Now, what is the perfect thing? Some people say it’s the Bible when it was finished. Some people say it’s the maturing of the church; some people say it’s the rapture; some people say it’s the second coming, some people say it’s the – it’s the end of the millennium. Next week, we’re going to find out which because I can’t get into that. I don’t have time. I’ve got to get this done before the rapture, because then you’ll know everything and you won’t need me, see.

All right, I Corinthians 13. Now, we know then that prophecy and – and it’s very interesting to notice that only prophecy and knowledge appear in verse 9 and tongues don’t appear anymore, because only prophecy and knowledge are stopped by the perfect thing, see. But notice the word relative to tongues. Tongues shall cease. That is not a passive. In fact, the verb is an intransitive verb. It couldn’t even be a passive. It couldn't – there's is no way. What it – what you're talking about here is tongues shall stop. And it isn’t an active either. It is, in the Greek, a middle voice, and the Greek middle is reflexive.

In English, we would say this. Active, “I hit the ball.” Passive, “The ball hit me.” If we had a middle voice it would be this. “I hit myself.” It’s reflexive. And in the Greek, it – it gives an emphasis to the active. It really says this, “Tongues will stop by themselves.” That’s the meaning of the middle voice in Greek. Tongues will stop by themselves. Intense action of the subject. In fact, the Greek Old Testament, which is known as the Septuagint, uses the middle form of this verb, pauō 15 times. And every time, it means to complete, to stop, to be finished, to be accomplished, to come to an end. It has a – it’s a finality. It means that’s it. It’s over, it’s ended, it’s complete, it’s accomplished, it’s spent, it’s done. And the – and the middle gives it the reflexive. All by itself, it ends. That’s it. - J Mac from Sermon on 1 Corinthians 13:8

I believe tongues ceased as well, that it disappeared towards the end of the Apostolic age. I believe this was to give precedence to the written word, and that historically miracles have been seen to come as they did with Moses on a grand scale, then depart, then on a smaller scale we see Samson, then a larger scale the ministries of Elijah and Elisha. Cessationist do not believe that there are no miracles, in fact they put precedence on the greatest miracle, that of the new birth. We also note that John the Baptist was a prophet who performed no miracles, but introduced Jesus, Who performed an untold many miracles, far more than the examples that were recorded. This was followed by His disciples in that age. For example, I don't believe people receive revelation anymore that is on the authoritative level of Scripture. There are many fringe groups who do, including people that say they have talked to God while walking around with Him in heaven, but their accounts do not match with Scripture, and if they insist that they are receiving direct messages from God to give to the church, if that's true then that's canon too. I don't believe them, and I do believe the Scripture to be sufficient. When it came to healing as a gift, I see that Jesus disciples had that, yet later Paul is told that God's grace is sufficient when he seeks healing for a thorn in the flesh, and Paul tells Timothy to take some wine. While that is less spectacular, it is also providential, and beautiful, that even in our fallen state, God has provided different abilities and capacity even in unbelievers, to be doctors, to be scientists, and make wonderful discoveries about His creation and to the benefit of others. I think the Greek that J Mac points out above is brilliant as to why we don't see tongues operating as we did in Acts 2, but do still see preaching. I think you are getting a little tired of John though so I will defer to the perspectives of some other godly men in the history of the church. 

B.B. Warfield writes, “Miracles do not appear on the pages of Scripture vagrantly here and there and elsewhere and differently, without any assignable reason. They belong to revelation periods and appear only when God is speaking to His people through accredited messengers declaring His gracious purposes. Their abundant display in the apostolic church is the mark of the richness of the Apostolic age in Revelation. And when this Revelation period closed, the period of miracle working had passed by also as a mere matter of course.” Scripture leads us to expect the end of the miraculous gifts because of the unique role that miracles have always played, as the validation of someone who spoke God’s own words. - BB Warfield from A Case for Cessationism by Pennington

…14He will convey to you a message by which you and all your household will be saved.’ 15As I began to speak, the Holy Spirit fell upon them, just as He had fallen upon us at the beginning. 16Then I remembered the word of the Lord, as He used to say, ‘John baptized with water, but you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit.’… Acts 11: 14-16

You come to the second occurrence that’s recorded in the book of Acts. In Acts 11:15 when Peter reports on the gift of tongues that was given to Cornelius and his household after his conversion, this is what Peter says in Acts 11:15. “As I began to speak, the Holy Spirit fell upon them just as He did upon us at the beginning.” It’s the same thing. Peter says it’s exactly what happened to us. So what happened in Cornelius’ household is exactly what happened at Pentecost, and what happened at Pentecost is clear. - Pennington

You see this come to its climax in the book of Hebrews. Turn with me to Hebrews chapter 1, verse 1, “God after He spoke long ago to the fathers and the prophets in many portions and in many ways, our Old Testament, in these last days,” an expression the Jews had for the times of the Messiah, “in these last days He has spoken to us in His Son.” God’s last word is His Son and those whom He appointed. That’s why when you come to chapter 2 verse 1, the writer of Hebrews says, “For this reason,” because of who this message comes from, “we must pay much closer attention to what we have heard.” And he goes on to argue that if the penalties for disobeying the first covenant ministered by angels was severe, how much more severe to disregard this new Covenant message by the Lord Himself? Far superior to angels.

Verse 3, “How shall we escape if we neglect so great a salvation?” Now let me remind you that this book, the book of Hebrews was written almost certainly just before the destruction of the temple in Jerusalem in 70 A.D. That gives you a time frame. I want you to notice how the writer of Hebrews refers to the miraculous. He says it was first, that is the message of salvation, this final word from God, it was at first spoken through the Lord—there’s generation number one, the Lord Himself. Then there’s a second generation in this verse, “It was confirmed, that message was confirmed to us by those who heard.” There the Apostles. The writer of Hebrews is putting himself in a third generation, us. And he says of the second generation, the Apostles, “God also testifying with them…not with us…both by signs and wonders and by various miracles and by gifts of the Holy Spirit according to His own will.” Already before…just before 70 A.D., the writer of Hebrews is saying that was then, this is now. That was something the Lord and the Apostles did and we witnessed.

So in the chronological flow of the inspired New Testament history of the church, you find that even before the Scripture was complete, the miraculous gifts had already begun their decline. The miracles that were intended to confirm the apostles and their message had already began to die out. That’s the reality of the New Testament historical record.

When we leave New Testament history, we discover that the testimony of the church after the New Testament era, was exactly the same, in both what was taught and practiced. It was that the miraculous gifts ceased with the Apostles. Here are just a couple of examples from different periods of church history. Here’s John Chrysostom, the great exegete in the 300’s. This whole place, speaking about 1 Corinthians 12 and the gifts there, is very obscure but the obscurity is produced by our ignorance of the facts referred to and by their cessation being such as then used to occur but now no longer take place. Augustine, writing in the late 300’s, early 400’s, said, “In the earliest times, the Holy Spirit fell upon them that believed and they spoke with tongues which they had not learned as the Spirit gave them utterance.” That thing was done for a sign and it passed away.

Fast forward to the Reformation, Martin Luther writes, “This visible outpouring of the Holy Spirit was necessary to the establishment of the early church as were also the miracles that accompanied the gift of the Holy Ghost. Once the church had been established and properly advertised by these miracles, the visible appearance of the Holy Ghost ceased.”

John Calvin, “The gift of healing, like the rest of the miracles which the Lord willed to be brought forth for a time, has vanished away in order to make the preaching of the gospel marvelous forever.”

Jonathan Edwards writes, “Of the extraordinary gifts, they were given in order to the founding and establishing of the church in the world, but since the canon of the Scriptures has been completed, and the Christian church fully founded and established, these extraordinary gifts have ceased. Charles Haden Spurgeon says, “Those earlier miraculous gifts have departed from us. B.B. Warfield writes, “These gifts were distinctly the authentication of the Apostles. They were part of the credentials of the Apostles as the authoritative agents of God in founding the church. Their function thus confined them to distinctively the apostolic church and they necessarily passed away with it. The miraculous working which is but the sign of God’s revealing power cannot be expected to continue and in point of fact, does not continue after the revelation of which it is the accompaniment had been completed.” - Pennington A case for Cessationism

3. He adds a plain intimation that the fondness then discovered for this gift was but too plain an indication of the immaturity of their judgment: Brethren, be not children in understanding; in malice be you children, but in understanding be men, v. 20. Children are apt to be struck with novelty and strange appearances. They are taken with an outward show, without enquiring into the true nature and worth of things. Do not you act like them, and prefer noise and show to worth and substance; show a greater ripeness of judgment, and act a more manly part; be like children in nothing but an innocent and inoffensive disposition. A double rebuke is couched in this passage, both of their pride upon account of their gifts, and their arrogance and haughtiness towards each other, and the contests and quarrels proceeding from them. Note, Christians should be harmless and inoffensive as children, void of all guile and malice; but should have wisdom and knowledge that are ripe and mature. They should not be unskilful in the word of righteousness (Heb 5 13), though they should be unskilful in all the arts of mischief. - Matthew Henry Commentary on 1 cor 14 verse 20

And then I was curious about how Gotquestions.org would define Cessationism and here is an excerpt:

The Apostle Paul predicted that the gift of tongues would cease (1 Corinthians 13:8). Here are six proofs that it has already ceased:

1) The apostles, through whom tongues came, were unique in the history of the church. Once their ministry was accomplished, the need for authenticating signs ceased to exist.

2) The miracle (or sign) gifts are only mentioned in the earliest epistles, such as 1 Corinthians. Later books, such as Ephesians and Romans, contain detailed passages on the gifts of the Spirit, but the miracle gifts are not mentioned, although Romans does mention the gift of prophecy. The Greek word translated “prophecy” means “speaking forth” and does not necessarily include prediction of the future.

3) The gift of tongues was a sign to unbelieving Israel that God’s salvation was now available to other nations. See 1 Corinthians 14:21-22 and Isaiah 28:11-12.

4) Tongues was an inferior gift to prophecy (preaching). Preaching the Word of God edifies believers, whereas tongues does not. Believers are told to seek prophesying over speaking in tongues (1 Corinthians 14:1-3).

5) History indicates that tongues did cease. Tongues are not mentioned at all by the Post-Apostolic Fathers. Other writers such as Justin Martyr, Origen, Chrysostom, and Augustine considered tongues something that happened only in the earliest days of the Church.

6) There are indications that the gift of tongues has ceased. If the gift were still available today, there would be no need for missionaries to attend language school. Missionaries would be able to travel to any country and miraculously speak any language fluently, just as the apostles were able to in Acts 2. As for the gift of healing, we see in Scripture that healing was primarily associated with the ministry of Jesus and the apostles (Luke 9:1-2). And we see that as the era of the apostles drew to a close, healing, like tongues, became less frequent. The Apostle Paul, who raised Eutychus from the dead (Acts 20:9-12), did not heal Epaphroditus (Philippians 2:25-27), Trophimus (2 Timothy 4:20), Timothy (1 Timothy 5:23), or even himself (2 Corinthians 12:7-9). The reasons for Paul’s “failures to heal” are 1) the gift was never intended to make every Christian well, but to authenticate apostleship (2 Corinthians 2:12; Hebrews 2:4); and 2) the authority of the apostles had been sufficiently demonstrated.

The reasons stated above are reasons cessationists believe the miraculous sign gifts have ceased. It is important to remember, though, that cessationists believe God still continues to work through the other gifts of the Spirit. According to 1 Corinthians 13:13-14:1, we would do well to “pursue love,” the greatest gift of all. If we are to desire gifts, we should desire to speak forth the Word of God, that all may be edified. - GotQuestions.org

It has been an interesting break from my normal studies, but I think it's important to discuss what divides us as well as what unites us. As someone's t-shirt read.