Acts 15:18 *Known unto God are all his works from the beginning of the world*.
*THE STREAMS IN REFORMATION: REFORMED/ CALVINIST
I am a living testimony of the miraculous power of God. It will be hard for Calvinists to convince me against it becauae I have numerous testimonies to confirm that miracle still happens. A bible scholar may be full of knowledge about the letters but may have little or no understanding about operations of the Spirit and the supernatural.
Out of the reformed tradition is the belief that prophecy has ceased. Is this true? Joel 2:28 says, *“And afterward, I will pour out my Spirit on all people. Your sons and daughters will prophesy, your old men will dream dreams, your young men will see visions*".
*HAS PROPHECY CEASED*?
Another thing the cessationists believe is that prophecy is not for today because it has ceased with the apostolic age. Just as they do not believe tongues is for today, they discard all forms of prophecy.
They base their beliefs on 1 Corinthians 13:8 which says, *"Love never fails. But where there are prophecies, they will cease; where there are tongues, they will be stilled; where there is knowledge, it will pass away*"( NIV).
A contextual reading of this text shows that Paul the apostle was only talking about the eternal nature of love and temporal nature of these gifts. In the church( referring to period of time from pentecost to rapture), the gifts of the Holy Spirit will not cease. They will continually manifest. On earth, the gift will manifest till Christ comes but we won't need it in heaven.
Truly, the gifts of prophecy and tongues will not last for all eternity because when we cross into glory, we won't need them again. We'll be basking in God's glory and love but the church age will keep seeing the manifestation of these gifts because they are for us in the now. Halleluyah!!!
The cessation of prophecy and tongues has not occured because as long as Spirit-filled believers are on earth, the church will need the manifestation of those gifts. The gifts are tools for our benefits and for winning our world to Jesus.
As a missionary, I have seen the Holy Spirit at work among newly reached tribes, distributing his gifts among them. These are people who might not have seen the manifestations of these gifts before on t.v. or hear it on radio. The Holy Spirit and his works are real.
We are in the days prophesied by Joel in his book, 2:28. In these last days, Sons and daughters of God shall prophesy. It should not sound strange to us when God's children begin to speak as inspired by the Spirit. It is the fulfilment of prophecy.