In every thing
give thanks: for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you. Quench
not the Spirit. Despise not prophesyings. Prove all things; hold
fast that which is good (I Thess. 5:18-21).
CHARISMATICISM ARGUMENT:
Charismatics
appeal to this text as an argument against Cessationists.
(I)
Prof. Herman C. Hanko
Question: “What does this
admonition of the apostle mean for us today?”
This question presupposes,
of course, that it has some other meaning today than it had at the time in
which this letter was written.
Undoubtedly, the reader
has in mind the fact that prophecies were some of the special gifts of the Holy
Spirit in the apostolic church (I Cor. 12:10). But, as Scripture teaches, these
special gifts, which were present in the church before the writing of the
entire canon of Scripture was completed, have now ceased. Therefore, does the
admonition of the apostle have significance for us today?
Indeed it does.
And the answer hinges on
the idea of prophecy.
Already in the Old
Testament, God spoke to His people through the prophets. These prophets were
entrusted with the Word of God. The word ‘prophet’ literally means, “one who
boils over,” and the meaning is that the prophets were so filled with the Word
of God that they boiled over with it and could not refrain from speaking it.
People have a very wrong
idea of prophecy oftentimes. These people think that prophecy is nothing else
but predictions of the future. And, while indeed the prophets were surely able
to predict the future as God revealed it to them, the idea of prophecy is much
broader than that.
I shall make use of a
definition of prophecy which was given to me in my own days in seminary.
Prophecy, I was taught, “is from the perspective of the end of all things, but
in the searchlight of the revelation of God’s counsel and with a view to the development
and culmination of God’s kingdom in Christ.”
Thus, prophecy deals with
all history as it is the unfolding of God’s counsel, as God works all things to
bring about the final day of the Lord.
The prophets in the Old
Testament were the mouthpieces of God, but also prefigures of Christ who is God’s
only Prophet. Christ is the one who reveals the counsel and will of God. He
does this, not only by what He said and did during His earthly ministry, but
Christ functions as Prophet by who He is. He is, in Himself, the revelation of God, for ‘we
beheld his glory, as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and
truth’ (John 1:14).
Christ continues to
function as our Prophet. Although Christ speaks through the sacred Scriptures
which He Himself has written, Christ still reveals to us God’s counsel and
will. He does that through men whom He appoints to bring that Word of God. And
those whom He appoints are His ministers who proclaim the gospel, the glad
tidings of salvation.
In the Old Testament, the
three offices were divided between those who were prophets, those who were
priests, and those who were kings. In the new dispensation, all three offices
are united in Christ.
While it is true that
every believer is now a prophet, priest and king, Christ has ordained that, in
the church, these three offices are individually present. Elders are kings in
the church. Deacons are priests in the church. Ministers are prophets, also in
the church.
And so prophesying
continues to this day. It continues in the preaching of the gospel on the Lord’s
Day when God’s new dispensational prophets proclaim authoritatively the Word of
God.
That gives sense to Paul’s
admonition. We may not despise prophesying—that is, we may not despise God’s
prophets, nor the Word they bring.
Scripture contains many
such like admonitions. Solomon says, “Keep thy foot when thou goest to the
house of God, and be more ready to hear, than to give the sacrifice of fools:
for they consider not that they do evil. Be not rash with thy mouth, and let
not thine heart be hasty to utter any thing before God: for God is in heaven,
and thou upon earth: therefore let thy words be few” (Eccles. 5:1-2).
James admonishes the
church, “Wherefore, my beloved brethren, let every man be swift to hear, slow
to speak, slow to wrath: for the wrath of man worketh not the righteousness of
God” (James 1:19-20). Peter tells us, “As newborn babes, desire the sincere
milk of the word, that ye may grow thereby” (I Pet. 2:2).
We despise prophesying
when we sit in church indifferent to and unconcerned about what the
minister is saying. We despise prophesying when we reject what the minister
says and mock his proclamation of the Word of God. We despise prophesying when
we hear the Word, but just as soon as we leave the church, we forget it and go
on in our lives as if nothing has happened.
The opposite of “despise”
is “love.” We must love the Word when it is preached, eagerly receive it
as our own, humble ourselves beneath it, and by faith walk according to its
glorious truth.
It is to me a striking
thing that oftentimes people refuse to hear what the minister proclaims,
especially when it touches upon some weakness in their lives. They always have
a thousand reasons why the Word of God does not apply to them. And as often as
not they are the very people who are forever clamouring for more practical
preaching.
But God’s people hear
that Word, repent of their sins, flee to the cross, and seek diligently to obey
their Father in heaven. Such, then, are people who do not despise prophesying.
He that hath an ear to
hear, let him hear!
------------------------------------------------
(II)
More to come! (DV)
(II)
More to come! (DV)
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