I apologize for the length of this post. I felt it was necessary to fully explain some of the comments that I have made of this subject.
First of all.....allow me to be crystal clear on this.
GOD HEALS TODAY! He does it by Himself in responce to His children and not because a person says they have the ability to heal anyone.
In a Biblical response to the the thread named......"Do you believe in miraculous healing through faith", the more I read through the responces the more I felt lead to post what I believe is at the ROOT of this thought.
May I say to you that we as humans will do
what we WANT TO DO.
If we want to go to a football game in the rain, we will go.
If someone says, "Do not go to Ruby Falls", we will go if we want to.
That is an inbred fact of our humanity which is actually rooted in "Stubbornness".
The idea of faith healing, tongues, knowledge and the prophetic word are all based in whether or not the SIGN GIFTS given to the Apostles are still valid today or have they ended with the death of John who was the last called Apostle of Jesus Christ.
That teaching is based on the literal words of 1 Corinthians 13:8-10 which say..........
"Charity never faileth: but whether there be prophecies, they shall fail; whether there be tongues, they shall cease; whether there be knowledge, it shall vanish away. 9For we know in part, and we prophesy in part. 10But when that which is perfect is come, then that which is in part shall be done away."
There are only TWO things I know of that were/are perfect that have come.
1. Jesus Christ.
2. The completed written Word of God.
The doctrine then of "Cessationalism" says that according to the Scripture posted the Sign Gifts ended with the completed Word of God as the last Apostle then died.
In that light, IMO, it seems to me that the teaching of "cessationism" originated in
EXPERIENCE.
What then are the SIGN GIFTS???????
Mark 16:14-18 .......
"Afterward he appeared unto the
eleven as they sat at meat, and upbraided them with their unbelief and hardness of heart, because they believed not them which had seen him after he was risen. 15And he said unto them, Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature. 16He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved; but he that believeth not shall be damned. 1
7And these signs shall follow them that believe; In my name shall they cast out devils; they shall speak with new tongues; 18They shall take up serpents; and if they drink any deadly thing, it shall not hurt them; they shall lay hands on the sick, and they shall recover."
Those Eleven plus Paul later were the Apostles and according to the Scriptures, it was those men who were given the SIGN GIFTS. Those Men could do all the things that Jesus did including healing and the raising of the dead.
Because NO One today can see Jesus Christ in the flesh neither has anyone today seen the death, burial and resurrection of Jesus, there can not be any called Apostles today.
When anyone reads and studies the Bible and focuses the sign gifts of miracles and healing they should come away with several questions about these things.
I think that we all need to ask ourselves these question......…
1. Why do the epistles have little discussion about them?
2. Why does Paul leave people sick (Phil 2:26-27; 1 Tim 5:23; 2 Tim 4:20)?
3. Why does James have the sick call the elders and not one with the gift of healing?
4. Why do I not see miracles today?
5. Why do we not see healings today?
When I said that
"cessationism originates in experience", I am saying that what we actually see and experience plays a huge part in what we understand the Bible actual says.
No One could affirm
cessationism if miracles and
healing and the
real Bible tongues were happening all about him.
Yes, we see so called healings on religious T.V. But what we see is carefully orchestrated events that in allmost all cases have been proven to be faked and fraudulent.
We see people speaking in gibberish with no interpreters and nothing said that glorifies the Lord Jesus and we accept it as valid because we KNOW that born again believers would never ever fake tongues to make themselves appear spiritual......right????
All of those things come under the roof of
EXPERIENCE.
PETER POPOFF claimed to be a faith healer when all the time he had his wife speaking to him in a ear phone telling him what his works had found out from people standing in line to enter his tent meeting.
https://www.bible.ca/tongues-popoff-39-17Mhz.htm
In 1991 ABC-TV’s Prime Time Live ran an investigative report where W.V. GRANT was included with segments on ROBERT TILTON and LARRY LEAL. All were thoroughly busted for their misrepresentations to the public and the church and fraud.
Ole Anthony of the Trinity Foundation, a watchdog organization keeping tabs on the tele-evangelists was influential in making this happen. So began an era of open discovery for those fleecing the flock.
ABC’s hidden cameras caught W.V. Grant and his staff informally circulating among audience members before services. They would hand-pick those who were to be called forth that night. They would ask them questions about their personal lives, their goals, finances, sicknesses, making careful note it would be passed on to Grant who would later claim was revealed to him by the Holy Spirit.
http://www.evidenceunseen.com/theology/practical-theology/faith-healers/
Experience is the confirming factor in the case of either continuation or cessationism. Ultimately, the Bible must affirm or allow our experience if it does not then all we say and promote is again....
.WHAT WE WANT IT TO BE!
If we
experience REAL, VERIFIABLE healings and the correct use of tongues as recorded in the Scriptures then there would be no need to promote CESSATIONALISM at all.
Just something for you to think about. You certainly do not have to agree with me and I am sure some will not.
God bless you all and please be careful and safe in the days we live.