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Enjoy... But remember
"Don't give in to winning the argument
and losing one of your eternal crowns..."
God bless you...
Yet another glowing example of the unsupported assertions of non-cessationism. 
"Impartation" theology
For those interested only - On Cessationism. (Christopher Yip)
For Christopher (Bill )
Bill, Read Powell's Article (Christopher Yip)
Reply for All to Read (Bill )
Let's Return to Cessationism. (Christopher Yip)
I will read Powell - Will you read Wallace ? (Bill )
Wallace is another cessationist. (Christopher Yip)
re:Walace / My Final Answer (Bill Roth)
Cessationism in the bible. (Christopher Yip)
One more time (Bill Roth)
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Bill,
Yes, I was refering to sign gifts. And yes they are gone. In spite of the emotional and experiential but flawed and biblically-bankrupt argumnents you offer, the sign gifts are gone from the Church today. Thank God for His Word! To all reading, Yes, there are forgeries and false prophets and false apostles. This, of course, does not negate the true ones but when all you have to show is forgery, false prophets and false apostles, it negates it glowingly. I am saddened by the gullibility of non-cessationists who are constantly looking for power, signs and wonders when the greatest wonder has already been wrought in their lives when they were renewed. I am angered by the deception, lack of scholarly exegesis of non-cessationist theologians who destroy faith and dishonour God in the name of the Holy Spirit with their false healings, unfulfilled prophecies and counterfeit miracles. Surely they shall give account of their misdeeds. This falsehood is perpetuated even greater by those who claim to go straight to the bible and the bible only. It sounds like as if cessationism is a man-made theory and it elevates these non-cessationists to biblical highground. But is that the case? On the contrary as Bernard Ramm rightly noted (I know I have posted this recently but it is worth repeating): "It is often asserted by devout people that they can know the Bible completely without helps. They preface their interpretations with a remark like this: “Dear friends, I have read no man’s book. I have consulted no man-made commentaries. I have gone right to the Bible to see what it had to say for itself.” This sounds very spiritual, and usually is seconded with amens from the audience. But is this the pathway of wisdom? Does any man have either the right or the learning to by-pass all the godly learning of the church? We think not. First, although the claim to by-pass mere human books and go right to the Bible itself sounds devout and spiritual it is a veiled egotism. It is a subtle affirmation that a man can adequately know the Bible apart from the untiring, godly, consecrated scholarship of men like Calvin, Bengel, Alford, Lange, Ellicott, or Moule … Secondly, such a claim is the old confusion of the inspiration of the Spirit with the illumination of the Spirit. The function of the Spirit is not to communicate new truth or to instruct in matters unknown, but to illuminate what is revealed in Scripture. Suppose we select a list of words from Isaiah and ask a man who claims he can by-pass the godly learning of Christian scholarship if he can out of his own soul or prayer give the meaning or significance: Tyre, Zidon, Chittim, Sihor, Moab, Mahershalahashbas, Calno, Carchemish, Hamath, Aiath, Migron, Michmas, Geba, Anathoth, Laish, Nob, and Gallim. He will find the only light he can get on these words is from a commentary or a Bible dictionary." (Bernard Ramm. Protestant Biblical Interpretation. Grand Rapids: Baker, 1976. 119-122) Readers should be wary of such people and not hold them up as exemplary models to emulate, especially when they turn around and offer their own (human!) interpretation devoid of historical and grammatical accuracy to the text or choose to refer to biblical exegesis as "dancing around Scriptures." Yes, the sign gifts are gone. God has seen fit to remove them. The non-cessationists would like to tantalise you with signs and wonders. The sign gifts appear as gifts to you only if you close your eyes and ears to sound biblical exegesis and choose instead to believe. Pure belief is powerful. C S Lewis said, "Faith should never be thought of as a refusal to come to terms with the decisive questions of logic and evidence. If it were legitimate to believe in spite of evidence, then anyone could believe anything by faith." Pure belief is so powerful that it can make one see something that is simply not there. I have argued against non-cessationism since the 1980s when I first examined the Scriptural evidence. Since then, all I have found is more evidence for the fraud and faith-destroying chicaneries of modern-day faith healers and miracles workers. Book after book investigates the alleged sign gifts operation and found them wanting and all the time, lives and families are being destroyed. Many non-cessationists have begun (finally! and long overdue) to question non-cessationism and learnt to depend on God, instead of depending on a continual experience of the signs and wonders. From 1901 Pentecostalism to 1960 Neo-Pentecostalism to 1980s Signs and Wonders Movement, thousands have become disillusioned with charismania and are re-discovering the satisfaction in the presence of the Holy Spirit. This constant search for yet another experience, for yet another miracle, for yet another slaying in the Spirit, another tongue has shown them the futility of the addiction not to God but to their roller-coaster emotions! Experience is ALL there is in the proof for non-cessationism and what a fleeting thing it is! Even Jack Deere, a key apologist for the signs and wonders movement because of his Dallas theological background, recognised that experience is IT as far as the charismatics are concerned in his book, Surprised by the Power of the Holy Spirit. There is NO biblical exegesis, only eisegesis, texts interpreted in line with the experience, not the other way around which it should be. This is not only my analysis of Deere’s argument but that of others who critique it as well. For example, Mitchell, in a book review generally friendly to Deere, analyses Deere’s book with the following statements: "… and his personal experiences punctuate each chapter. Indeed, there is almost a sense in which the book affirms that the power of the Spirit is real primarily because Deere experienced and saw it. He comes perilously close to using experience as a form of expanded translation of the biblical text." [Kurt Mitchell, “Dispensing with Scofield,” Christianity Today 10 Jan. 1994, 57] Mitchell concludes with the statement that Deere “unfortunately leaves the reader with the impression that it is the religious experience itself that validates what he argues.” [Ibid.] Mitchell may not realise that this is exactly what most charismatics, including Deere, are arguing. Also, consider George Mallone’s statement, “What we were seeing in our own experience suggested that these gifts were available today,” in his Those Controversial Gifts (Downers Grove, Ill.: InterVarsity, 1983), 11] The description of Deere’s second book indicates that this is the same basic argument that he uses for prophecies, dreams, visions, and other revelations. It is the argument based on personal experience, namely, “It happened to me”. For many charismatics it is their only argument. There is certainly a thirst for a closer and deeper experience with God and this is not wrong in itself. Christianity has often been defined as a relationship and it is rightly so. Today, charismatic experience, signs and wonders have taken the place of God but Scriptures no where taught that signs and wonders are for the enrichment of the Christian's experience! Instead Scriptures teach that signs and wonders are apostolic gifts for authenticating their message to NON-BELIEVERS! The two clear characteristics of NT signs and wonders are 1. they were apostolic gifts with the sole exception of Stephen and Philip 2. they were performed publicly on unbelievers, with the exceptions of believers Dorcas and Eutychus, primarily to confirm the gospel (Hebrews 2:3-4 he verb “confirmed” (ebebaiothe) is in the past tense, indicating that this confirmation was done in the past and was not going on when Hebrews was written) Exceptions do not negate the basic rule that the sign gifts were apostolic gifts and meant for confirming the Gospel to non-believers. Today, it contradicts Scriptural teaching for believers to seek after such sign gifts either for themselves or even for the sake of confirming the Gospel. How is the Gospel confirmed in the hearts of the non-believer today? Of course, it is the Holy Spirit who convicts but how is the power of the Word demonstrated today? Isn't it by the way Christians live, by the way the Word transforms our life, renew our minds? Christians should not be seeking for signs and wonders in order to show their loved ones that God is alive, they should seek for holiness, sanctified lives, transformed minds. Therein is the power! Having said this, the readers might conclude that the Spirit has no place in this cessationist's heart. That would be a wrong inference. This is where Wallace's 11 theses come in. This is the context in which his points would make perfect sense. Cessationists are not wrong in their biblical exegesis on cessationism but the teaching sometimes obscures the fact that while sign gifts are no longer in operation today, the Holy Spirit is not. When faced with crises requiring miracles or healings, cessationists do not turn to faith healers or preachers with so-called sign gifts, instead, they go to God in earnest prayer for a miracle or healing. We trust that God, in his boundless compassion and mercy, has our interests best at heart. We're in His hands - He will decide. Just as James counselled, “Is any sick among you? Let him call for the elders of the church; and let them pray over him, anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord: And the prayer of faith shall save the sick, and the Lord shall raise him up; and if he have committed sins, they shall be forgiven him.” (James 5:14-15) James called for the elders, not faith-healers. He does not call us to seek out fellow-believers who have the gift of healing but simply to go to God in prayer. Cessationists simply need to be reminded of the Holy Spirit and to be more experiential in their walk while constantly guided by the Word. Regards, Christopher
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Outline:
Your articles sadden me. by frankie lee, 2001, Jul 13
And Frank, Your Article EXASPERATES Me! I'm Ignoring You Before I Get Fed-up! (eom) by Christopher Yip, 2001, Jul 14 
For Frank and All by Bill Roth, 2001, Jul 14
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