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Regarding their view of supernatural gifts, theologians generally fall into one of two camps: cessationist or continuationist. Cessationists say the supernatural gifts (like miracles, healing, and tongues) ceased early in church history while continuationists claim that they are still in operation today.

My problem with strict cessationism is that it can lead to an anti-supernatural worldview where people think and act like God no longer works miraculously in our world. I don’t see much difference between this view and old-school deism (that is, the notion that God created the world and got the ball rolling but hasn’t intervened since).

Years ago, a preacher in Illinois told me that he didn’t believe in divine healing. His viewpoint was that miracles were only for the Apostles and now we live in an age when God allows natural processes to run their course without divine interference. I asked him if his church held prayer meetings. He said, “Yes, of course.” I asked him if he and his people prayed for the sick during these meetings. He replied, “Yes.” I said, “Why do you pray for the sick if God doesn’t heal anyone today?” He said he hadn’t thought of it quite like that before.

On the other hand, however, the continuationist position has its own problems. Perhaps the most obvious one is a simple matter of observation: we don’t see the miraculous, apostolic gifts in operation today. Some people go to great lengths in their attempts to duplicate what happened in the NT, but those efforts are strained and invariably come off as religious quackery and fakery. As skilled as some preachers are in techniques of manipulation like crowd psychology and the power of suggestion, they cannot duplicate what God did in NT times. Instead, they’ve given birth to a “signs and wonders” movement that’s riddled with religious frauds and scams that are embarrassing and make a mockery of the Gospel. This movement creates an environment where con artists can take advantage of gullible and naive believers—and in many instances, that’s exactly what happens.

Furthermore, the fakery and trickery (and all the nonsense that goes with it) provides fodder for enemies of the Gospel to use in their attacks on the Christian Faith.

Sometimes it’s dangerous to try to duplicate biblical miracles, as in the case of Pentecostal snake-handling sects in the Deep South. These sects have been outlawed in many jurisdictions because of the number of people who have been killed by poisonous snakes in their services.

Our position on tongues (and other miraculous gifts) may be described as “modified cessationism.” What we mean by that is that we believe these supernatural manifestations occurred mainly during the lifetime of Yeshua and His apostles—but not necessarily exclusively so. In Apostolic times, their purpose was to signal the coming of the Messiah, to build up the Body of Messiah (before they had the NT), and to assist in the spreading of the Gospel during the fledgling church’s early history.

We don’t insist that the miraculous gifts have ceased permanently. They are rare, yes; but nothing in the Bible indicates that God no longer works miracles. We believe, for instance, in praying for the sick (James 5:14-15)—and sometimes (not often, but sometimes) we see those prayers answered in ways that even the doctors agree defies any natural explanation.

Yes, the NT says that the gift of tongues will “cease” (1 Cor. 13:8); however, as we saw earlier in this study, Paul doesn’t say when it will cease. Does Verse 10 mean it would end once the NT (“that which is perfect”) was completed? That is indeed a possible interpretation; but many commentaries see it differently.

Iraeneus, one of the earliest church fathers (he had a direct connection to the Apostle John through his teacher, Polycarp), indicated that the gift of foreign languages was still in operation in the late second century AD. He wrote (c. AD 180): “In like manner do we also hear many brethren in the church who possess prophetic gifts, and who through the Spirit speak all kinds of languages, and bring to light, for the general benefit, the hidden things of men and declare the mysteries of God, who also the apostles term spiritual” (1.531).

Frankly, it wouldn't ruffle my theological feathers in the least if one of our English-speaking workers said he had miraculously shared the Good News of Yeshua with a Jewish person in Hebrew, French, or some other language he had never learned. My response would be, “Praise God!”

Furthermore, I believe there are indications in Scripture that there will be a resurgence of miraculous events during the coming Tribulation, including divine dreams, visions, prophecy, and even the raising of people from the dead (Joel 2:28, preliminarily but not ultimately fulfilled in Acts 2:17; Rev. 11:7-11).

You see, these are some of the reasons for my not being a strict cessationist. So I describe myself as a "modified cessationist." Here at CJF Ministries, this has been our position for over half a century.

Continued in Part 5