Cessationism vs the
Charismatic Movement

When it comes to understanding the cessationist position, the question is not: Can God still do miracles in the world today? Cessationists would be quick to acknowledge that God can act at any time in any way He chooses. Along these lines, John MacArthur explains:

Miracles in the Bible [primarily] occurred in three major periods of time. The time of Moses and Joshua, the time of Elijah and Elisha, and the time of Christ and the apostles. . . . And it is during those three brief periods of time and those alone that miracles proliferated; that miracles were the norm; that miracles were in abundance. Now God can interject Himself into the human stream supernaturally anytime He wants. We’re not limiting Him. We’re simply saying that He has chosen to limit Himself to a great degree to those three periods of time.

Cessationism then does not deny the reality that God can do whatever He wants whenever He wants (Psalm 115:3). It does not put God into a box or limit His sovereign prerogative. But it does acknowledge that there was something unique and special about the age of miracles and miracle-workers that defined the ministries of Moses and Joshua, Elijah and Elisha, and Christ and His apostles. Moreover, it recognizes the seemingly obvious fact that those kinds of miracles (like parting the sea, stopping the rain, raising the dead, walking on water, or instantly healing the lame and the blind) are not occurring today.
Thus, cessationists conclude that:

The apostolic age was marvelously unique and it ended. And what happened then is not the normal thing for every Christian. The normal thing for every Christian is to study the Word of God, which is able to make us wise and perfect. [It] is to live by faith and not by sight.    {View Source}
{Acts 14:3, 2 Corinthians 12:12, Acts 2:22, Romans 15:18-20, Hebrews 2:3-4}

LOOK TO SALVATION, NOT SIGNS & WONDERS -

Luke 10:20   Notwithstanding in this rejoice not, that the spirits are subject unto you; but rather rejoice, because your names are written in heaven.

John 2:23-25   Now when He was in Jerusalem at the Passover, during the feast, many believed in His name when they saw the signs which He did. (24) But Jesus did not commit Himself to them, because He knew all men, (25) and had no need that anyone should testify of man, for He knew what was in man.

2 Thessalonians 2:9-12   The coming of the lawless one is according to the working of Satan, with all power, signs, and lying wonders, (10) and with all unrighteous deception among those who perish, because they did not receive the love of the truth, that they might be saved. (11) And for this reason God will send them strong delusion, that they should believe the lie, (12) that they all may be condemned who did not believe the truth but had pleasure in unrighteousness.

Matthew 24:23-24   "Then if anyone says to you, 'Look, here is the Christ!' or 'There!' do not believe it. (24) For false christs and false prophets will rise and show great signs and wonders to deceive, if possible, even the elect.

2 Corinthians 11:13-15   For such are false apostles, deceitful workers, transforming themselves into apostles of Christ. (14) And no wonder! For Satan himself transforms himself into an angel of light. (15) Therefore it is no great thing if his ministers also transform themselves into ministers of righteousness, whose end will be according to their works.

John 6:36   But I said unto you, That ye also have seen me, and believe not.

Matthew 16:4   A wicked and adulterous generation seeks after a sign, and no sign shall be given to it except the sign of the prophet Jonah." And He left them and departed.

Luke 16:29-31   Abraham said to him, 'They have Moses and the prophets; let them hear them.' (30) And he said, 'No, father Abraham; but if one goes to them from the dead, they will repent.' (31) But he said to him, 'If they do not hear Moses and the prophets, neither will they be persuaded though one rise from the dead.' "

John 20:29   Jesus saith unto him, Thomas, because thou hast seen me, thou hast believed: blessed [are] they that have not seen, and [yet] have believed.

2Cor 5:7   (For we walk by faith, not by sight:)

Hebrews 11:1   Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.

1 Corinthians 12:8-10   for to one is given the word of wisdom through the Spirit, to another the word of knowledge through the same Spirit, (9) to another faith by the same Spirit, to another gifts of healings by the same Spirit, (10) to another the working of miracles, to another prophecy, to another discerning of spirits, to another different kinds of tongues, to another the interpretation of tongues.
1 Corinthians 13:8-10   Love never fails. But whether there are prophecies, they will fail; whether there are tongues, they will cease; whether there is knowledge, it will vanish away. (9) For we know in part and we prophesy in part. (10) But when that which is perfect has come, then that which is in part will be done away.

1 Corinthians 1:21   For since, in the wisdom of God, the world through wisdom did not know God, it pleased God through the foolishness of the message preached to save those who believe.
1 Corinthians 1:22-23     For Jews request a sign, and Greeks seek after wisdom; but we preach Christ crucified, to the Jews a stumbling block and to the Greeks foolishness,

Commentary on 1 Corinthians 1:22-23 -
Today we want to look at the message of the Christian. Many times we become students of the Bible and we forget the basics that we need to include in our spiritual repository. When we look at the above set of verses, it reminds me that some things never change. The message of Christianity has never changed throughout the whole New Testament and we continue to find, in our present day, the same situation that the Apostle Paul faced. There were people who were seeking after signs and those who were seeking after wisdom. These people caused as much consternation for the Apostle Paul in his day, as they do for the stable Christian in our day.
Today we see the rise in Charismaniac Christianity where everyone who partakes of that particular strain of Christianity needs to see signs and wonders. While they claim they have faith, their faith based Christianity is foundational upon the signs and wonders which God performed in the early Church, being operational today. However, God is not performing any miracles like handkerchief healing or raising the dead to confirm the Gospel like He did in the time of Christ and the early church -
(Mark 16:20 KJV) And they went forth, and preached every where, the Lord working with them, and confirming the word with signs following. Amen.
Christ even warned against those who seek signs and wonders and called them an evil and adulterous generation ( Matthew 12:39-40). If Christ warns against these types of false things which are going to come upon the church, then why do so many millions seek the very thing that Christ decried? It is because there is no light in these people who must have sight for faith. You know the old saying, Seeing is Believing, and unfortunately that is what rules the Charismatic movement. The problem is, they believe in the miracles and the false preacher.
Then there is the other group which criticizes Christianity and that is the intellectual group. They claim that Christianity cannot possibly be true because God does not exist. Schools of philosophy have been formed from the time of the Ancient Greeks up till today who create systems of unbelief with their many words. Existentialism, Rationalism, Pragmatism, Empirical belief systems and on and on. (Charismania would fit well into the Empirical system.) The Apostle Paul faced the philosophers on Mars Hill. Today we call them Think Tanks. Many well-educated people find Christianity a very primitive religion and not worthy of consideration simply because they cannot explain God’s salvation plan. However, God does save intellects and then uses what they have learned to present the truths of Christianity to the other unbelieving intellects. Some will be the Elect and some will be hostile.
As we look at our two opening verses, we see that the message which we are to preach is Christ crucified. We are to speak the basic message of the cross as the basis of our verbal testimony and witness. Now there is nothing inherently wrong in discussing the cross of Christ in intellectual terms as long as those terms bring the person back to the cross. Christ did not chide Nicodemus for not understanding the basics of Christianity, instead He continued to speak with Him on his level. Eventually Nicodemus came into the Kingdom. God does not condemn us for using the intellectual abilities He gave us. Humanistic Philosophy or Evolution is man’s intellect gone awry through sin. When a person becomes saved, they can reclaim the use of their mind to the Glory of God. The Christian has two basic functions in terms of witness: The first, is we are to present the truth of the Gospel; the second, is that we are to be an apologetic for the Gospel.
(Phil 1:17 KJV) But the other of love, knowing that I am set for the defence of the gospel.
The word defense is apologia in the Greek and it is where we derive the word apologetic from which simply means we need to go beyond turn or burn as our defense of the Gospel and Christianity. We need to declare and defend the Gospel. The secret of being a good salesman is to thoroughly know the product you are selling and to be able to derail the arguments another company may make against your product to the client. If a product salesman can responsibly do this, how much more should we, who hold the eternal truths, be astute at declaring and defending the Gospel? The verse below says, be ready always, it doesn’t say, if you feel like. God is not glorified by the ignorance of His people.
(1 Pet 3:15 KJV) But sanctify the Lord God in your hearts: and be ready always to give an answer to every man that asketh you a reason of the hope that is in you with meekness and fear: