Order, Design and Power

From the beginning, not only was the Spirit part of the plan of Jesus to build His church, but He instructed that action would not be taken without the Spirit. Before this, the disciples were aware of the miracles that came from God through Jesus. He had even empowered them to perform some miracles of healing and deliverance before. They heard Jesus say that it was His desire that they do “greater works” than He, and that it would be better for them when He went away. As the letters of the New Testament show, the Church grew just as Jesus said that it would. Through regular people, whose faith allowed them to receive from God the gifts needed to build an ekklesia, a body that would represent Jesus on this earth and build for His Kingdom. (Matthew 3:2, 4:17, 10:7; Luke 10:9; Mark 1:15; Acts 28:30-31)

 What Happened?

The generation we are living in has the same Father, Son and Holy Spirit, and the very same mandate – to announce the good news of the Kingdom of God and to make disciples. But have we been handed all the pieces of the puzzle, or are we suffering from generations of alterations to the plan? The Church of today looks less and less like that first Church in Antioch with each passing year. There are many factors we could look at, but my focus has been on one. It is prominent, and it is long-standing, and most people have never heard of it: The doctrine of Cessationism.

 Based on my research, observation, and personal experience in the American evangelical “religion” for 40 years, I have come to believe with confidence that this doctrine, so prevalent today is explained by Paul’s description in I Timothy 4:1-2, “The Spirit clearly says that in later times some will abandon the faith and follow deceiving spirits and things taught by demons.” Here’s my argument: