Cessationism - Part 15

Saint Steven

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Here again is the sixth and final point the Cessationists claim prove that
the gift of tongues have already ceased. The whole list is found on post #2073.

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6) Current observation confirms that the miracle of tongues has ceased. If the gift were still available today, there would be no need for missionaries to attend language school. Missionaries would be able to travel to any country and speak any language fluently, just as the apostles were able to speak in Acts 2. As for the miracle gift
of healing, we see in Scripture that healing was associated with the ministry of Jesus and the apostles (Luke 9:1-2). And we see that as the era of the apostles drew to a close, healing, like tongues, became less frequent. The Apostle Paul, who raised Eutychus from the dead (Acts 20:9-12), did not heal Epaphroditus (Philippians 2:25-27), Trophimus (2 Timothy 4:20), Timothy (1 Timothy 5:23), or even himself (2 Corinthians 12:7-9). The reasons for Paul’s “failures to heal” are 1) the gift was never intended to make every Christian well, but to authenticate apostleship; and 2) the authority of the apostles had been sufficiently proved, making further miracles unnecessary.
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It will require more than one post to address this mess. Let's work through it one point at a time.

Here's the next one.
"As for the miracle gift of healing, we see in Scripture that healing
was associated with the ministry of Jesus and the apostles (Luke 9:1-2)."

How would you answer the Cessationists?

James 5:14-15
Is anyone among you sick? Let them call the elders of the church
to pray over them and anoint them with oil in the name of the Lord.
15 And the prayer offered in faith will make the sick person well;
the Lord will raise them up. If they have sinned, they will be forgiven.

Hmm... ?????
Are the elders of the church the Apostles? (nope)
Does that mean this scripture is no longer valid? (nope)

James goes on to say this.

James 5:17
Elijah was a human being, even as we are.
He prayed earnestly that it would not rain,
and it did not rain on the land for three and a half years.
18 Again he prayed, and the heavens gave rain,
and the earth produced its crops.

Was he saying that there was something special about Elijah
that enabled him to do these things? No, he says that,
"Elijah was a human being, even as we are." - vs 17

What did Jesus say about this?

John 14:12
Very truly I tell you, whoever believes in me
will do the works I have been doing,
and they will do even greater things than these,
because I am going to the Father.

What was that? If you are an Apostle you will do "greater things"? (nope)
Jesus says, "whoever believes in me..."

Jesus says we will be doing the works he did and even greater things.

What do the Cessationists say?
"... we see in Scripture that healing was associated
with the ministry of Jesus and the apostles..."

Is that a fact? (nope, not completely)

Mark 16:17-18
And these signs will accompany those who believe:
In my name they will drive out demons; they will speak in new tongues;
18 they will pick up snakes with their hands;
and when they drink deadly poison, it will not hurt them at all;
they will place their hands on sick people, and they will get well.”

Just to be clear, I'm not recommending snake handling, or drinking deadly poison. lol
 
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