Pastor Mur shares a story of how God answered a prayer in ways he never expected.

There are nearly 50 Foursquare churches in Hawaii, and 75,000 people get to go to these great churches each weekend. They are full gospel churches that grew out of the ministries of two men – Ralph Moore and Wayne Cordeiro who founded Hope Chapel and New Hope.

I attended a Foursquare church for the first time in November 1976. I had come from New Jersey to California to speak at a construction industry seminar, and planned my trip so I could attend that Sunday morning service at Angelus Temple, its founder’s church. It was the first time I had ever been to California.

I was 30 years old when God saved me in 1961. I had no background in Biblical Christianity when that happened. I had moved to Philadelphia earlier that year, and made a friend who invited me to a Billy Graham Meeting, and late one night two weeks after that meeting, Jesus came into my bedroom and my heart.

I immediately wanted to be an evangelist like Mr. Graham, and enrolled at Philadelphia College of the Bible in January 1962 after executing its written agreement never to attend a full gospel church. I unintentionally broke that agreement 18 months later, and was soon involved with full gospel churches. My dad had taught me to love to read, and in those days I read everything I could find about the Holy Spirit. My construction work moved me around, and I had to drop out of Bible College.

While there were no Foursquare churches where I lived, I discovered the writings of Aimee Semple McPherson, the founder of the Foursquare movement, and decided that I would go to her Angelus Temple if I ever got to Los Angeles. I was 45 years old when I got there for the first time.

The Angelus Temple, Church of the Four Square Gospel, built by Aimee Semple McPherson and dedicated January 1, 1923. The temple is opposite Echo Park, near downtown Los Angeles, California.
Image: 2005 photograph / Wikimedia Commons.

When the Temple’s morning service ended that day, I walked up onto the platform and stood behind the pulpit. No one paid any attention to me. I looked out into those 4,000 seats, and tried to imagine what the place looked like 50 years earlier when Sister Aimee was in her prime; and then I did something outrageous and even silly: I prayed that God would somehow involve me in that Temple and in the church it had spawned.

I said outrageous and silly because I lived 2,500 miles from there. I was the founder of a small, though growing, consulting engineering firm that demanded my attention virtually every hour of every day. Those demands had also led to a failing marriage and all the hurt and misery that entailed. My prayer lacked a serious foundation; there was nothing to build on, and I soon forgot my words. But looking back today, I realize that the first thing I learned at that church is that God answers the prayers uttered at that altar.

Editor Introduction: Postmodernism, The Church, and The Future

Note from the Editors: Pastor Ryken has graciously taken time to answer questions that readers of this discussion have raised about how the church should respond to postmodernism.

Postmodernism, The Church, and The Future
A Pneuma Review discussion about how the church should respond to postmodernism

Question from reader: Why does it seem that some of the great themes of the past are fading from emphasis? What happened to Hell, lostness of sinners, and the Rapture? 

Philip Graham Ryken: I believe it is true that many important doctrines receive much less attention in the church today than they did in past eras when the church was more vital spiritually. The doctrines of Hell and the lost condition of fallen sinners would certainly fall into this category. These doctrines in particular are essential to an orthodox understanding of the Christian faith, and just as importantly, to a true saving relationship with Jesus Christ. The doctrine of sin is important because it shows our need for a Savior; the doctrine of Hell is important because it shows us the true and final consequence of our sin.

I see two main reasons why these doctrines may be less frequently taught in the church today. One is that they are both “hard teachings,” and our culture shies away from anything that is difficult or confrontational. However unwittingly, many teachers and preachers avoid saying anything that might be offensive to non-Christians, for fear of driving them away from the church (and of course teaching on sin will always be offensive to sinners). This fear is misplaced, however. However offensive it may be to some, the preaching of sin and judgment has always been one of the Holy Spirit’s primary means for showing people their need of Christ for the forgiveness of sins.

Matthew Hyam, I Still Have More Questions than Answers: An Accidental Journey through Discipleship, Life and Leadership. (Cape Town, South Africa: Vineyard International Publishing, 2004), 164 pages.

Hyam writes reflectively as a pastor who is amazed at where God has brought him from and who is eager to go where God is leading. He recounts the beginning stages of unintentionally planting a new church and takes the reader through the stages of how this small group of friends becomes an established congregation. In doing so he is asking himself and his readers to reconsider the calling, function, and purpose of the church. He asks why do we do what we do and not what Jesus did?

Central to the thesis of this book are the questions one might ask in redesigning the daily outreach, work, and functioning of the church. He does not do this in a format that seeks to tear down any denomination or church tradition, but to challenge the daily living of the true Church—those who bear the name of Christ. Using simple business logic, Hyam thinks pragmatically about what the local church is suppose to “produce.” The product that is produced is a result of the present practices. Therefore, if you are completely satisfied with your church, then there is no reason to read this book. At the same time, he challenges the Evangelical paradigm for salvation, arguing that all too often there is a failure of discipleship. By contrast, he offers a redefinition of what he thinks discipleship should look like in the twenty-first century.

The process of rebuilding the daily reality of the healthy and functional church, according to Hyam, finds its foundation on the “great story of God.” The inward journey stands on two legs: the grace of God and the spiritual disciplines. Crucial to the life of the church is the genuine sense of community, which will be embodied in the concept of church family. Hyam champions two principle arms of outreach: the making of disciples and helping of the poor. Legs, body, and arms—with Jesus as the head—together forms an illustration of a man and an image of a healthy church (for this figure, visit Hyam’s church website: http://www.southamptonvineyard.org.uk/about/vineyardperson.html).

Hyam calls the church leader to rethink their assumptions of how church is to be done. In this he calls the church to place a renewed emphasis in the ministry to the poor, the disenfranchised, and the weak. He calls every believer into a renewed relationship with Jesus, not for the sake of doing religious acts, but to be the actualized body of Christ among those who are most needy. The challenge to care for one’s neighbor—and to ask who is my neighbor—is revived.

The Power of the Cross: The Biblical Place of Healing and Gift-Based Ministry in Proclaiming the Gospel

22. Doesn’t the Bible teach that the Holy Spirit will never call attention to Himself, but will always direct our attention to Christ? Then how can it be right to place so much emphasis on the work of the Holy Spirit today?

This objection is based on trying to force a false alternative, one not supported by Scripture. Of course the Holy Spirit does glorify Jesus (John 16:14) and bear witness to Jesus (John 15:26; Acts 5:32; 1 John 2:3; 4:2). But this does not mean He does not make His own actions and words known. The Bible has hundreds of verses talking about the work of the Holy Spirit, making His work known, and Bible is itself spoken or inspired by the Holy Spirit. Matthew 28:19, “Make disciples …baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit,” suggests that the Holy Spirit is to be given equal honor with the Father and the Son in the Church.

Moreover, the Holy Spirit frequently made Himself known by some phenomenon or event that indicated His activity, both in the Old Testament and in the New Testament. This was true when the Holy Spirit came upon the 70 elders with Moses and they prophesied (Numbers 11:25-26), or when the Holy Spirit came upon the judges to enable them to do great works of power (Judges 14:6, 19; 15:14). People could see the effect of the Holy Spirit coming on someone in these cases. This was also true when the Holy Spirit came mightily upon Saul and he prophesied with a band of prophets (1 Samuel 10:6, 10), and it was frequently true when the Holy Spirit empowered the Old Testament prophets to give public prophecies.

The Holy Spirit also made Himself known or evident in a visible way when he descended as a dove on Jesus (John 1:32), or came as a sound of a rushing wind and with visible tongues of fire on the disciples at Pentecost (Acts 2:2-3). In addition, when people had the Holy Spirit poured out on them and began to speak in tongues or praise God in a remarkable and spontaneous way (see Acts 2:4; 10:44-46; 19:6), the Holy Spirit certainly made His presence known as well. And Jesus promised that the Holy Spirit within us would be so powerful He would be like a river of living water flowing out from our inmost beings (see John 7:39): Certainly that simile suggests a kind of presence people would be aware of, a presence that would somehow be perceptible.

The Power of the Cross: The Biblical Place of Healing and Gift-Based Ministry in Proclaiming the Gospel

15. Why do people speak directly to demons today and command them to leave, rather than just praying and asking God to drive the demon away? Isn’t it safer just to pray to God about this?

In a way, this is similar to asking why Christians should share the gospel with another person rather than simply praying and asking God to reveal the gospel to that person directly. Or why should we speak words of encouragement to a Christian who is discouraged rather than just praying and asking God Himself to encourage that person directly? Why should we speak a word of rebuke or gentle admonition to a Christian, whom we see involved in some kind of sin, rather than just praying and asking God to take care of the sin in that person’s life?

The answer to all these questions is that in the kind of world God has created, He has given us an active role in carrying out His plans, especially His plans for advancing the Kingdom and building up the Church. In all of these cases, our direct involvement and activity is important in addition to our prayers. And so it seems to be in our dealing with demonic forces as well.

As a wise father who does not settle all of his children’s disputes for them, but sometimes sends them back out to the playground to settle a dispute themselves, so our heavenly Father encourages us to enter directly into conflict with demonic forces, in the name of Christ and in the power of the Holy Spirit. Thereby He enables us to gain the joy of participating in eternally significant ministry and the joy of triumphing over the destructive power of Satan and his demons in people’s lives. God could certainly deal with demonic attacks every time we prayed and asked Him to do so, and He no doubt sometimes does. But the New Testament pattern seems to be that God ordinarily expects Christians themselves to speak directly to the unclean spirits.

We see this pattern of speaking directly to demons first in the ministry of Jesus. He spoke to the demon troubling a man in the synagogue, saying, “Be silent, and come out of Him!” (Mark 1:25). He commanded the demons in the Gadarene demoniac, “Come out of the man, you unclean spirit!” (Mark 5:8). When Jesus encountered a young boy severely afflicted by a demon, “He rebuked the unclean spirit, saying to it, ‘You dumb and deaf spirit, I command you, come out of him, and never enter him again'” (Mark 9:25). This was Jesus’ general pattern, for people said about Him, “What is this word? For with authority and power he commands the unclean spirits, and they come out” (Luke 4:36).

The Power of the Cross: The Biblical Place of Healing and Gift-Based Ministry in Proclaiming the Gospel

8. Doesn’t Hebrews 2:3 tell us that miracles were restricted to the apostles, “those who heard him”?

In Hebrews 2:3-4, the author says about the message of salvation,

It was declared at first by the Lord, and it was attested to us by those who heard him, while God also bore witness²³  by signs and wonders and various miracles and by gifts of the Holy Spirit distributed according to his own will.

The miracles here are said to come through those who heard the Lord firsthand (“those who heard him”), so it is argued that we should not expect them to be done through others who were not firsthand witnesses to the Lord’s teaching and ministry.²⁴

But this argument attempts to draw more from the passage than is there. First, the phrase “those who heard him” (Hebrews 2:3) is certainly not limited to the apostles, for many others heard Jesus as well (Luke 10:1 ff.; John 6:60-70; 1 Corinthians 15:6). But more importantly, this position is claiming something the text simply does not say: That the gospel message was confirmed by miracles when it was preached by those who heard Jesus says nothing at all about whether it would be confirmed by miracles when preached by others who did not hear Jesus.

Finally, this passage says the message was confirmed not only by “signs and wonders and various miracles” but also by “gifts of the Holy Spirit.” If someone argues that this passage limits miracles to the apostles and their companions, then he or she must also argue that gifts of the Holy Spirit are likewise limited to the first-century Church. But few would argue that there are no gifts of the Holy Spirit today.

9. When Paul says, “Jews demand signs and Greeks seek wisdom, but we preach Christ crucified, a stumbling block to Jews and folly to Gentiles” (1 Corinthians 1:22-23), doesn’t he warn us against seeking signs and say that we should just preach the gospel of Christ?

Here Paul cannot be denying that he performed miracles in connection with proclaiming the gospel. In Romans 15:18-19, a passage Paul wrote while in Corinth, he said,

For I will not venture to speak of anything except what Christ has wrought through me to win obedience from the Gentiles, by word and deed, by the power of signs and wonders, by the power of the Holy Spirit, so that from Jerusalem and as far round as Illyr’icum I have fully preached the gospel of Christ.

“George,” he concluded, “the Bible says these experiences of yours cannot be valid. True miracles no longer occur today because God gave them only to establish New Testament doctrine. You can’t go against the teaching of God’s Word just because of your experiences and feelings.” The pastor continues, “‘Ordinary’ spiritual gifts like evangelism, hospitality and teaching, of course, continue, but the ‘miraculous’ gifts have ceased.”

George certainly did not need to be discouraged, however. These days, even among conservative Evangelical scholars, the tide is definitely turning against his pastor-friend’s “cessationism.” Cessationism is a doctrine, mostly found in Protestant fundamentalism, that spiritual gifts (the “charismata,” such as listed in 1 Corinthians 12:7-10, 28) existed only to prove the validity of New Testament doctrine or accredit the apostles. This teaching also says that that the “miraculous” or “extraordinary” gifts died with the apostles, or with the writing of the last New Testament book sometime in the first century.

George needed a kind of pocket guide, like this article, for him to answer his friend’s overwhelming, Biblical-sounding arguments. This article will very briefly summarize an enormous Biblical case that can be made for spiritual gifts continuing today. The second part will examine the most common “cessationist” argu­ments George, and you, would likely hear.

The Case for Continuing Spiritual Gifts

Before we begin, let us look at the central problem with the “cessationist” argument, above. It claims that because spiritual gifts can be used as proof of doctrine, then the gifts must cease when the need for that proof is fulfilled (that is, when the New Testament was written). Should a medical doctor use that same logic? When he uses your heartbeat to prove you are alive, does this mean your heart must cease beating simply because he just removed his stethoscope and no longer needed proof? It is highly doubtful that the New Testament ever intended spiritual gifts to be used as proof, but even if it did, the New Testament itself shows many other, clearly-stated and necessary functions for spiritual gifts, which, by the same logic, should demand their continuation!

Let us now review some passages of Scripture that makes this case.

1. Romans 11:29 makes a universal statement about the continuation of the “charismata.”

“The gifts [charismata] and calling of God are irrevocable [not called back].” Cessationism precisely contradicts this verse. Cessationists may object, though, that this verse applies only to the offer of salvation to the Jews and not to the gifts of the Spirit.

Should we expect the Holy Spirit to work in powerful, miraculous ways in connection with the preaching of the gospel and the life of the Church today? This has been the claim of John Wimber and the Vineyard movement, and of others within what is called the “third wave” of renewal by the Holy Spirit.¹  Similar claims have been made for years by Christians within the Pentecostal and charismatic movements. But other evangelicals have differed with this claim, and have raised several objections. In this series, I want to consider some of the most frequent objections and propose some answers from Scripture.

1. Doesn’t Jesus say, “An evil and adulterous generation seeks for a sign, but no sign shall be given to it except the sign of Jonah” (Matthew 16:4)?²  Doesn’t this mean we should not seek miracles today—rather, we should look to “the sign of Jonah,” which means the resurrection of Christ, and emphasize that when we talk about miracles?³

The mistake made in this objection is a failure to look at the context and find whom Jesus was talking to. In the context of Matthew 16, it is the Pharisees and Sadducees who came, “and to test him they asked him to show them a sign from heaven” (Matthew 16:1). Similarly, it was the hostile scribes and Pharisees who came in Matthew 12:38-45, the Pharisees who began to argue with him “to test him” in Mark 8:11-12, and skeptics who came “to test him” and seek a sign from heaven in Luke 11:16. (The only passage that doesn’t specify that the comment was directed against hostile unbelievers is Luke 11:29, but the parallel passage in Matthew 12:39-42 does specify that it was specifically the scribes and Pharisees against whom this word was directed.)

So in every instance the rebuke for seeking signs is addressed to hostile unbelievers. Jesus is rebuking Jewish leaders who had hard hearts and were simply seeking a pretext for criticizing Him. In no case are such rebukes addressed to genuine followers of Jesus who sought a miracle for physical healing or deliverance for themselves or others, either out of compassion for others or out of a desire to advance the gospel and see God’s name glorified. These warning verses, taken in the original contexts, apply to unbelievers, and therefore to use them to apply to genuine Christians is an illegitimate application. No New Testament passages warn against the use of miracles by genuine Christians.

It seems to me that the New Testament encourages us to believe God and seek answers to prayer in many ways, including miraculous answers to prayer. (See Acts 4:30; 1 Corinthians 14:1; Galatians 3:5 [implicitly], see also the entire pattern of gospel proclamation plus miraculous demonstration in the evangelism carried on in Acts 3:6, 12ff.; 4:29, 30; 5:12-16, 20, 21, 28, 42; 6:8 10; 8:4-7, 12; 9:17, 18 [cf. 22:13] 34, 35; 14:3, 8-10, 15ff.; 15:12, 36; 18:5, 11 [cf. 2 Corinthians 12:12, 1 Corinthians 2:4-5]; 19:8-12; compare Hebrews 2:4; James 5:13-18).