The Church grows in Honduras. Is that beautiful beard not a "sign" that I was away from the Mrs. for two weeks?

Living between the Cessationists and the Continuationists is a growing group of evangelicals whose theology of the miraculous is largely defined by their confusion.  They are unwilling to restrict God by believing he no longer gifts miraculously, especially since they find no clear Scripture explaining the temporality of signs and wonders (1 Cor 13:8-12 seems to imply that miraculous gifts will one day “pass away,” but when will that day arrive (at the coming of the “perfect”) is hotly debated.  In fact, it seems that cessationists are becoming less willing to appeal to this passage in defense of their theology; see Richard Gaffin in Are Miraculous Gifts for Today?); and yet the miraculous activity recorded in Scripture does seem to be given largely to the Apostles (e.g. the sick were brought to the Apostles for healing, not to church members; see Acts 5:12-16, 9:36-42).  Hence this doctrinal camp has been cumbersomely labeled “Open, but Cautious.”  As I have mentioned earlier, this theological position most closely describes my own convictions: I am open to the reality that God powerfully works through his church by gifting her with the ability to perform signs and wonders; nonetheless, I am cautious in that we live in the post-apostolic age.  My confusion is largely founded upon three beliefs, of which I will only explain the first in this entry. 

First, I am cautious because Scripture historically describes what has been identified as three miraculous epochs: during the ministry of Moses and the Exodus; during the ministry of Elijah and Elisha; during the ministry of Christ and the Apostles (in fact, it seems that some thought Jesus was Elijah (Mat 16:14) due to the promise that Elijah would return in the great and awesome day of the Lord (Mal 4:5), undoubtedly working his signs and wonders).  Now certainly the miraculous never ceased to occur during the biblical narrative and does not so today. We see amazing and wonderful events in the life of Abraham, Jacob, Joseph, Samson, Gideon, Samuel, Ezekiel, Daniel etc.  We remember that the angel of the Lord struck down 185,000 Assyrians so that the soldiers of Israel awoke to an army of corpses (2 Kings 19:35); we remember that God reversed King Hezekiah’s shadow (2 Kings 20:9-11); and even Jeremiah would announce, “You have shown signs and wonders in the land of Egypt, and to this day in Israel and among all mankind, and have made a name for yourself, as at this day” (Jer 32:20).  Nevertheless, it seems during these three epochs God performed the miraculous on a daily basis, whether it was daily manna or daily healing (“now many signs and wonders were regularly done among the people by the hands of the apostles” (Acts 5:12)).  At other times, we have a complete absence of the miraculous (e.g. the intertestamental period and Israel’s slavery in Egypt).  In short, the degree of miraculous activity is not constant. Since signs and wonders have waxed and waned among God’s people, I am receptive to the suggestion that the post-apostolic age is a time of waning, which makes me cautious of assuming that the pervasiveness of signs and wonders seen in the book of Acts should continue throughout the church age.

However, the reality of these same miraculous epochs makes me open too.  If there have been three miraculous epochs, what about a fourth?  I must admit that I wonder, with little certainty, whether we are indeed experiencing a new miraculous outpouring.  As I shared in a previous entry, Pentecostals, which accounted for 1 out every 521 professing Christians in 1900 (or 1 million adherents), today account for 1 out of every 4 (or 601 million adherents).  Moreover, Third Waver Peter Wagner planted the first Vineyard Church in 1974; today there are over 1500 worldwide.  Evangelicalism is growing at a amazing worldwide rate of 4.7% (four times that of the world’s population rate of 1.2% and over twice the growth rate of Islam 2.2%).  This growth is largely among those with some degree of charismatic leaning. Therefore, regardless of your convictions on the continuation of miraculous gifts, it undeniable that those who believe they have been miraculously gifted by the Holy Spirit are growing an astounding rate.  For what reason would we be entering a fourth outpouring of signs and wonders?  As we have seen, Peter preached in Acts 2, quoting the prophet Joel, that “in the last days it shall be, God declares, that I will pour out my Spirit on all flesh, and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, and your young men shall see visions, and your old men shall dream dreams (Acts 2:17).” I question whether we are approaching the last days of the Last Days; not due to political and international events, but because Christ has told us that, “this gospel of the kingdom will be proclaimed throughout the whole world as a testimony to all nations, and then the end will come” (Mat 24:14). We live close to this day: the day in which the gospel will reached every nation.  The church has never before, except during the apostolic church, given itself to the cause of frontier missions as it has today.  Take for example the Wycliffe Bible Translators who have set a goal to have a translation of the Bible completed or at least begun in all 6912 spoken languages by the year 2025!  They are currently beginning a new language translation program every 5 days (also see the Joshua Project for additional encouraging news from the frontiers)! I openly wonder, and hope, that the return of our savior is within a generation or two and that the current proliferation of miraculous activity is an indication of this event.  I pray and labor and teach and pastor to make his return a reality. 

I am moreover open to the miraculous gifting of the Lord in light of these miraculous epochs because I can find no cessationist in the Bible.  In other words, even though believers lived during times when miraculous activity was waning, they never used that as an argument to suggest that God will not display his power through them another day.  If the reality of miraculous epochs did not lead to cessationists in the Old Testament, why should it do so today?

Thus, I remain cautious, as it should surprise no one if God’s miraculous gifting declines or even disappears, but open, hoping these days may be both unique and ultimate.