Welcome to Episode 83 of Axe to the Root Podcast, part of the War Room Productions, I am Bo Marinov, and for the next 30 minutes we will practice some resurrection. That is, we will resurrect a topic that has long been dead in our churches, and especially in our Reformed churches. Namely, the topic about the Prophetic Ministry. Not just about prophecy, or just about the spiritual gifts. We want to talk about the Prophetic Ministry. What is it, Biblically, what is its purpose, what should it look like today, and, most important, why has this topic been silenced and forgotten by today’s churches – and especially, by the leaders and celebrities in today’s churches. And, perhaps, if we have the time, we may want to look into the issue, what we need to to do to restore it in the Church today. (I am sure we won’t have the time, for I need to make a very long introduction, but perhaps in a future episode.)

I said we are going to be talking about the Prophetic Ministry, not about prophecy or the other gifts, but we need to start with prophecy and the other gifts – because we cannot resolve the issue of the Prophetic Ministry before we resolve the issue of the gifts of the Spirit and their validity and application today. So let me first shortly get this issue dealt with and out of the way before we move to the topic at hand.

Those of you who have listened to previous episodes, specifically “Modern Presbyterianism: Under the Feet of Men” and “The Spiritual Gifts,” know that I am an unrepentant Charismatic. Not just a “continuationist,” which denotes a rather passive acceptance of the continuation of gifts, but a Charismatic. That is, I believe that the Bible specifically instructs us that the spiritual gifts as they are described in several chapters in the New Testament are central to the way the Holy Spirit works in the Church in the New Testament era, and they are also central to our knowledge of God, and specifically to His immanence. We are not just admonished to accept them as “continuing,” we are explicitly commanded to actively and earnestly desire all the gifts, and especially the gift of prophecy, because the more of the gifts we have, the more the Church grows in maturity. The only detailed description of a church service in the Bible (1 Cor. 14) is entirely predicated on the free practice of the gifts of the Spirit. Now, obviously, the Bible doesn’t say that a service that doesn’t have them is necessarily invalid, or that a church that doesn’t practice them every day is necessarily invalid. But what is clear – again, from Scripture – is that a church that deliberately forbids them or declares them “ceased” has a serious problem with trusting and believing Scripture, and therefore is not a Sola Scriptura church, no matter how vociferously it may claim the title.

I know, I know, within the Reformed tradition, I rather stick out. (Perhaps not completely; a few Reformed theologians of the last 100 years have been continuationists.) And I have had my share of flak for voicing publicly my disagreement with the un-Biblical beliefs of the majority of those who pass for “Reformed” in this specific area of their theology. And, boy, have I heard all kinds of bizarre and laughable arguments why Scripture should not be taken at face value for what it says on the spiritual gifts. The most common of them, of course, is not Biblical (there are no Biblical arguments in favor of cessationism anyway) but sensational and experientialist: namely, “We don’t see today any prophets and healers, therefore the gifts must have ceased.” Because, you know, our temporary experience trumps the Bible; whatever the Bible says, we need to first see it, and if we don’t see it around us, it must have ceased, right? That’s what sola fide and sola scriptura means, right? Kinda ironic when it comes from folks who accuse Charismatics of “experientialism.” Then there is an attempt at Biblical argument from 1 Cor. 13:8-10, that when “the perfect” comes, the gifts will be done away; and “the perfect,” you know, is the completion of the canon. But what exactly in the text can make anyone believe that “the perfect” is the completion of the canon? Even Greg Bahnsen, himself an avowed cessationist, admitted that was not a good argument; and until the early 1900s, every single theologian commenting on that verse said that “the perfect” comes either at the end of history or with the earthly death of the individual. Calvin himself, commenting on that verse, calls it “stupid” to believe that “the perfect” comes in an intermediate time in history. But if this verse is not a good argument, there is no other verse that even mentions cessation of the gifts. Where is the Biblical evidence of those who beat themselves in the chest that they are “sola scriptura”?

Then the turn comes for arguments that, for anyone unbiased, sound like they have come from a lunatic asylum. For example, that in Acts, the gifts are mentioned more in the beginning of the book but less or no mention of them is made at the end of the book. What kind of an argument is that? Paul told the Roman church in Rom. 1:11 that he longed to see them so that he could impart some spiritual gift to them. But he didn’t get to Rome until two years before his death. “Sorry guys, I promised to impart gifts to you, but it’s the end of the period, no spiritual gifts anymore.” Then comes the argument about “they were only for one purpose and it has expired.” Like, “only to witness to the Jews.” Or, “only to fill the gap until we have Scripture.” None of these “only reasons” are ever found in Scripture, but the mythology persists. Meanwhile, Scripture contains multiple real reasons and functions for the gifts: establishment, encouragement, edification, growth to maturity, power to witness, public worship, evidence for unbelievers, judgment, confirmation of elders, vision, purpose, protection, guidance . . . how many of these have expired in the first century? (On a side note, ever wondered why all the “Reformed” ministries we have today – including some of the best, like R.C. Sproul – have been preaching the same milk for 30+ years, and there has been no growth? Meanwhile, Charismatics are already busy building Kingdom institutions while our so-called “Reformed” are flocking to G3 conferences to hear the same stuff on substitutionary atonement and the grace of God that they have been hearing for decades.) Then comes the argument that if we have prophecy today, it must be as Scripture and therefore will rival Scripture – despite obvious Biblical verses that show that there have been prophets whose prophecies were not Scripture. Calvin says about this that prophecy is simply “the application of Scripture to present use.” Much like engineering is the application of science to present use. If engineering doesn’t compete with science, because they serve different functions, prophecy does not compete with Scripture, because they serve different functions. Paul told Timothy that “all Scripture is profitable,” and yet, Paul also twice told that same Timothy to remember the prophecies concerning him and his ministry and gift. Was Paul contradicting himself? Then semantics comes into play: They were “apostolic” gifts, you know. That is, they were only for the apostles. Well, sola scriptura doesn’t mention anything about “apostolic” gifts, but it surely calls them spiritual gifts, that is, they belong to the Holy Spirit, and the Holy Spirit has not expired in the first century, as far as I can tell. Or what about the argument that the tongues must be intelligible human languages? Paul explicitly says in 1 Cor. 14:2 that one speaks in tongues, “no one understands.” Etc., etc., etc., I am not going to try to cover all of that lunacy in every single detail. Sometimes I wonder, how deep a hole can a person dig for themselves just to avoid the clear obvious message of the Bible?

When all these fail, of course, there comes a more “moderate” cessationism: for example, that God still does miracles today and He gives prophecies and stuff, but they are no more given as “gifts” to specific people, just scattered among many people. But the text in 1 Cor. 12:4-11 specifically says that the Holy Spirit gives them as gifts to specific people; and it is part of the whole concept of the church as a body with different parts. How do you hold to that position without logically destroying the whole concept of the Body as described in Scripture? What sola scriptura principle allows you to ditch a clear Biblical text in favor of your own imagination? But we will shortly see why the concept of the personal gifts is so repulsive to modern churchmen.

To summarize: cessationism is one of the most un-Biblical doctrines to ever hit Christianity. While it came out of the rationalism of the Enlightenment, it has produced nothing more than irrational babbling by people who refuse to even read what the Bible c...