Is cessationism biblical?

At the beginning of the time of the Church the whole potential, the whole variety of the work of the Holy Spirit became visible. This especially included "miracle gifts" like healings. But until the end of this time, until the rapture, the Lord will give all the gifts that are necessary to build up the body. Perhaps some people have already asked themselves the question: Will this ever end? Will the assembly one day be without edification? But then we look into the open heaven and see Christ there. He is still there, and He is still the One who gives the gifts. He so loved the assembly that He descended into the lower parts of the earth. Therefore, the ministry (which the gifts carry out) cannot stop while Christ is there!

The apostles and prophets were at the beginning, and shall continue to the end, for we have their ministry in the New Testament, though they themselves have long ago fallen asleep. The other gifts are, I do not doubt, continued from our exalted Head.

In the New Testament in the time of our Lord, we find again the miraculous was confined to the same little nation, to a few individuals, the Lord Himself, the twelve and the seventy, upon whom He conferred power, but in no way was the miraculous general.

In the time of the Apostles, we find they had miraculous gifts, and that the Holy Spirit of God conferred gifts on individuals, not generally, as witness the testimony of 1 Corinthians 12:8-11. We do not find the believers generally having these gifts, and they received the Holy Spirit without necessarily receiving special gifts. We find Peter, Paul, Stephen, Philip and Barnabas doing miracles, but the testimony is that the miraculous was confined to the few, it was not universal, it was for distinct purposes. It was not promised anywhere in Scripture to be continuous.

The miraculous gifts have often been likened to the church bells that call the congregation to the service, and once that is accomplished, they are silent. We believe from the testimony of Scripture that the miraculous gifts were the attestation in a wonderful way of the Divine message, and as soon as that attestation was effected, they ceased.

In the New Testament in the time of our Lord, we find again the miraculous was confined to the same little nation, to a few individuals, the Lord Himself, the twelve and the seventy, upon whom He conferred power, but in no way was the miraculous general.

In the time of the Apostles, we find they had miraculous gifts, and that the Holy Spirit of God conferred gifts on individuals, not generally, as witness the testimony of 1 Corinthians 12:8-11. We do not find the believers generally having these gifts, and they received the Holy Spirit without necessarily receiving special gifts. We find Peter, Paul, Stephen, Philip and Barnabas doing miracles, but the testimony is that the miraculous was confined to the few, it was not universal, it was for distinct purposes. It was not promised anywhere in Scripture to be continuous.

The miraculous gifts have often been likened to the church bells that call the congregation to the service, and once that is accomplished, they are silent. We believe from the testimony of Scripture that the miraculous gifts were the attestation in a wonderful way of the Divine message, and as soon as that attestation was effected, they ceased.

These gifts mentioned in I Corinthians 12, such as gifts of healing, working of miracles, and divers kinds of tongues and interpretations, were those which accompanied the coming to earth of the Holy Spirit and the inaugurating of the Gospel and the Church. There is no promise that they shall continue till Christ's coming, as is true of the gifts in Ephesians 4. In fact, I Corinthians 13:8 says tongues shall cease, and the language there is such as to differentiate between tongues, prophecies, and knowledge, and to indicate that only the latter two of the three will Continue until "that which is perfect is come"-Christ's coming (see verses 8-10).

But, as in Ephesians 4, another fact may be noticed before I have done. These gifts are till we al1 come to the measure of the stature of Christ's fulness. It is precisely here that much of the difference is seen between Ephesians 4 and 1 Corinthians 12. There is no such assurance in speaking about the signs. Thus I learn what ought, to an instructed eye, to account for the fact that signs no longer appear. The Lord never pledged Himself to continue healings, or tongues, or any such externals as were given to the early Church; but the moment you come to what is necessary to edification, to needful ministerial gifts of His grace for the calling in of fresh souls, or the guarding and watching over those that are called, I have divine authority for knowing that these are given "till we all come in the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, unto a perfect man, unto the measure of the stature of the fulness of Christ." All that is for real good in present circumstances abides for the Church of God even to the end.

Some of these gifts have been called sign-gifts, because it is said they were a sign to unbelievers. They were for the inauguration of Christianity, but there is no intimation of their continuance. The church continues, if you take the secret wisdom of God; if you take the revealed statement of God, there is no intimation of remaining here. You will never find the church contemplated as remaining, so as to put off the coming of the Lord. In the parables with reference to it, though we have "After a long time," yet the servants to whom the talents were entrusted are the same as those who are judged; the virgins who slept are they who are roused and so on. So with the seven churches, all was existing then, and yet it has been all going on.

Some of these gifts have been called sign-gifts, because it is said they were a sign to unbelievers. They were for the inauguration of Christianity, but there is no intimation of their continuance. The church continues, if you take the secret wisdom of God; if you take the revealed statement of God, there is no intimation of remaining here. You will never find the church contemplated as remaining, so as to put off the coming of the Lord. In the parables with reference to it, though we have "After a long time," yet the servants to whom the talents were entrusted are the same as those who are judged; the virgins who slept are they who are roused and so on. So with the seven churches, all was existing then, and yet it has been all going on.

We have now considered the relevant passages in this Epistle on the subject in hand, and we ask the question with which this inquiry was begun: is there any ground for believing that the power of tongues was to be perpetuated in the church down to the present day? And our conclusion is that no such warrant exists here any more than in Mark and in the Acts. Miracles and gifts of healing are named equally with tongues as being in exercise at the beginning, but there is no hint of their continuance in the assembly when departure from the faith displayed itself in apostolic and still more in post-apostolic days.

Without a direct scripture, the fact of the discontinuance of tongues is patent to all, except to those deluded to believe otherwise. But reference has already been made to 1 Cor. 13:8, which does say that tongues shall cease. Apart, however, from the direct bearing of this scripture upon this point, it will be remembered that we have no scripture which affirms the discontinuance of apostles and prophets; of elders and deacons; of the unbroken unity of the church as displayed in Jerusalem; of the common purse for the saints (Acts 2:41-47). These outward and visible signs of the Spirit's presence and power in the assembly, striking and remarkable as they were, have ceased. We know that the church, even in the days of the apostles, fell from obedience as Adam did, and was corrupted, evil doctrine permeating its ranks in all directions (Acts 20:28; 29; 1 Tim. 4:1; 2 Tim. 3:1; Titus 1:10-11). In view of that apostasy Paul did not commend the Ephesian elders to miracles and tongues, which were to be temporary, but to God and the word of His grace, which were eternal and unchangeable and sufficient, whatever the state of the church.

There was no warning in the Pentateuch that the miraculous gift of manna would cease, but when the people entered the promised land it was no longer given (Joshua 5:12). Similarly, the gifts of power were bestowed at the beginning for the establishment of the church as God's vessel of testimony in the earth. When Israel was finally displaced at the destruction of Jerusalem and the apostles and prophets had completed the foundation of God's spiritual temple which is the habitation of the Spirit (Eph. 2:21-22), we hear no more of tongues nor powers of healing. They passed away when the occasion for them passed away. It is for the propagandists of the Tongues movement to show from scripture that there is any occasion for their revival today or that any promise to that effect is contained in the scripture.