Your Sons & Daughters Shall Prophesy - Prophetic Gifts Today In The New Testament Church

Did Prophecy Cease-or Does It Continue?

Other cessationists believe "the perfect" (or "perfection") refers to the New Testament writings that completed the canon of Scripture. Since the Church now possesses the full message of God-that is, the completed Bible-we no longer need prophecy. 9 But this position disregards the func tion of continuing prophecy as described in New Testament churches: for comfort, edification, exhortation and future prediction (1 Corinthians 14:3; Acts 11:28). The written scriptural record is complete but the activ ity of the Spirit in applying the principles of Scripture to our current needs continues just as it did in the early Church. F. David Farnell feels that the most viable interpretation is to translate to teleion as "mature" or "complete" rather than "the perfect state." 10 He stresses the growing up of the collective Church of Christ during the Church age. This view is comprehensive enough to embrace the relative maturity implied by the illustration in verse 11, Farnell believes, as well as the absolute maturity depicted in verse 12. 11 Eventually, according to this position, we will arrive at complete maturity, but we are sufficiently mature enough now not to need prophecy and spiritual gifts. This argument neglects Paul's strong teaching on the place of prophecy in the church program. Since he boldly includes prophecy with other doc trinal teachings (which are not ignored, incidentally, by the cessationists), we are not at liberty to cut and paste doctrines according to personal prej udices or to turn a cold shoulder to significant information. Paul wanted no church of his day to be deficient in spiritual gifts. His comment to the Corinthians is significant. He did not want them to be "lacking in any gift, awaiting eagerly the revelation [the Second Coming] of our Lord Jesus Christ" (1 Corinthians 1:7). This indicates to me that all charismata can and will be in effect until the Second Coming of Christ.

3.2 Corinthians 12:12 (NN)

The things that mark an apostle-signs, wonders and miracles-were done among you with great perseverance.

Written in this way, the text does seem to say that signs and wonders authenticate the apostles. Jack Deere, however, casts reasonable doubt:

This translation ...is inaccurate.A literal translation is, "The signs of an apostle were performed among you in all endurance with signs and won ders and miracles." In this passage Paul uses "sign" (Greek semeion) in two different ways.The first use of "sign" in the phrase "signs of an apostle" cannot refer to miracles, for then Paul would be saying that "the miracles of an apostle were done among you with signs and wonders and miracles." What would be the point of such a statement? Paul does not say that "the 235 ■