God's Word To A Continuationist

The other day we looked at how the Spirit works through the written Word of God. Today I want to examine how seriously God takes anyone who claims to speak for Him.

First, we must begin with some definitions and explanations, then we will look at how seriously it is to claim to speak for God, and finally we will end with some final thoughts.

Definitions and such

Starting off with some basic (but not highly technical) definitions is necessary, so that we all understand each other. I know there are many different perspectives on these issues, but this should suffice for now.

What are we saying?

For anyone who has not been around this blog very long, or is new in the discussion of theology,   cessationism is the belief that God is no longer giving revelation and that the miraculous gifts of the Holy Spirit ceased after the Apostolic age. Cessationists teach that God no longer gives miraculous Spiritual gifts to men. They teach that the Word of God is sufficient, and that is where the true ministry of the Holy Spirit is seen.  The Spirit is no longer giving revelation that we should add to our Bibles, but rather His ministry is helping us understand and teach the revelation He has already revealed.

What aren't we saying?

Yet, it must be noted that Cessationists are not saying that the Holy Spirit is not still active. We are not saying that God cannot intervene and do miraculous things (He can and often does). We are not saying that the Word of God is better than the ministry of the Holy Spirit (see yesterdays post on the relationship between the Word and the Spirit). We are also not basing the entire cessationist argument on passages like 1 Corinthians 13 (here's a fairly good interpretation of this passage that may be of help). These are some of the few things Cessationists are not saying. Nathan Busenitzs' article on "what cessationism is not" is also quite helpful.

What are they saying?

On the other hand, continuationism is the belief that God is still giving revelation and that the miraculous gifts of the Holy Spirit are still active (with different variations here and there). Sometimes they will teach that God is still giving revelation mixed with human error. If we took this belief in continued revelation and miraculous gifts to its extreme, you would find it giving way to the Pentecostal/Charismatic movement and their fire tunnels, barking and laughing in the spirit, etc.

The seriousness of claiming to speak for God

While we will not be looking at whether the miraculous gifts of the Spirit are still operating today, we will be examining what Scripture says about the seriousness of claiming to speak for God. Claiming that God is still speaking and giving revelation is a subject that God takes very seriously. 

God's Word to a false prophet

In Jeremiah 23, God explicitly condemned the false prophets who were claiming to speak for God, even though God had not spoken anything to them. Kyle Yates commented on these false prophets saying that, "They were professionals who claimed to speak with divine authority but were actually giving utterance to lies and deceit. Jeremiah hurls three charges against them. He says they were actually immoral, that they did not know God, and that they had no message for the people." God's wrath and anger burned against those who falsely claimed to speak in His name:

“I have heard what the prophets have said who prophesy falsely in My name, saying, ‘I had a dream, I had a dream!’ How long? Is there anything in the hearts of the prophets who prophesy falsehood, even these prophets of the deception of their own heart, who intend to make My people forget My name by their dreams which they relate to one another, just as their fathers forgot My name because of Baal?" (Jer. 23:25-27).

When these false prophets were claiming new revelation that was not from or confirmed by God. Rather than pointing to the true and living God, they pointed away from God and caused the Israelites to forget the True and Living God.

Notice that the actions of these false prophets were actions that took people away from worshiping God. Simply by claiming that "God told me" is a serious crime that has at its core the intentions of detracting the worship do to the true God.

God's sure Word

These false prophets also took the focus away from the more sure Word of God (cf. 2 Pet. 1:19), which would have helped the people of Israel rather than lead them astray:

"The prophet who has a dream may relate his dream, but let him who has My word speak My word in truth. What does straw have in common with grain?” declares the Lord. “Is not My word like fire?” declares the Lord, “and like a hammer which shatters a rock?" (Jer. 23:28-29).

God's word is sure and fixed. Anyone who detracts from the Word and claims to speak falsely in His name will have God as their enemy.

We must note that when God speaks, His words are like a fire and a hammer. When God speaks, what He intends to communicate will be undeniably clear and known to all. If we claim that God is subjectively speaking to us, we must have hard evidence to prove it. His words are clear, powerful, and authoritative.

God's anger kindled

These false prophets in Israel were promising peace, even though God had said judgement was inevitable. They were speaking without a divine commission and blatantly lying to the people of Israel claiming they had a dream from God when God didn't give them any dreams:

Therefore behold, I am against the prophets,” declares the Lord, “who steal My words from each other. Behold, I am against the prophets,” declares the Lord, “who use their tongues and declare, ‘The Lord declares.’ Behold, I am against those who have prophesied false dreams,” declares the Lord, “and related them and led My people astray by their falsehoods and reckless boasting; yet I did not send them or command them, nor do they furnish this people the slightest benefit,” declares the Lord. (Jer. 23:30-32).

This portion of Scripture is so clear that it barely needs any explanation. The modern day Charismatic should read these words and be able to grasp the seriousness of claiming to speak for God. These "new revelations" drew God's people away from the true revelation; His written Word. Not only this, but if you claim that God has spoken to you or given you a dream when He has not done so, you better be prepared for the wrath and anger of the Lord.

A final thought

Yes, I am well aware that the book of Jeremiah was written well before even the New Testament, and there was still more revelation to come. However, this passage should be clear enough to show that when God speaks, everyone whom He is speaking to will know it and He will confirm it (cf. Heb. 2:3-4). I know I have said it many times already, but just so that we understand it, claiming to speak for God is a very serious crime if He has not spoken:

For you will no longer remember the oracle of the Lord, because every man’s own word will become the oracle, and you have perverted the words of the living God, the Lord of hosts, our God (Jer. 23:36).

Anyone who speaks falsely for God will actually be cut off from access to the true Word of God. You will not remember it; you will not know it; you will not honor it; rather, you will only twist and pervert it.

Therefore behold, I will surely forget you and cast you away from My presence, along with the city which I gave you and your fathers. I will put an everlasting reproach on you and an everlasting humiliation which will not be (Jer. 23:39-40).

This is God's clear warning to anyone who claims to prophesy or speak in His name if He has not done so.

God's Word to a continuationist

For the Continuationist who claims that God is giving revelation today through a voice in your head, divine assignments, dreams, pornographic visions, or that He is speaking subjectively or through words mixed with error, Jeremiah 23 gives a stern warning. I would much rather hold to the sufficiency of Scripture than claim God is still speaking if He is not; for there will be everlasting reproach and humiliation for those who claim false revelations.

Early on in Jeremiah 23, after God initially rebukes the false prophets and warns them (Jer. 23:16-20a), and right before God says He did not send these prophets, but they prophesied anyway (Jer. 23:21), there is a phrase that I believe was initially applicable to Israel during this time of judgment, but had a critical application for our day. God's Word says that "In the last days you will clearly understand it" (Jer. 23:20b). The New Testament tells us that we are in the last days right now (cf. Heb. 1:2; 2 Tim. 3:1-5). 

In these last days there will be false prophets who claim to speak for God, who do false signs and wonders no doubt, and who lead God's people away from His Word. In these last days, do we not understand this? I think our Continuationist friends need to think seriously about whether they want to come dangerously close to offending God, or whether they would rather cling to the sufficiency of the Scriptures as the Psalmist did:

"So I will keep Your law continually, forever and ever. And I will walk at liberty, for I seek Your precepts. I will also speak of Your testimonies before kings and shall not be ashamed. I shall delight in Your commandments, which I love. And I shall lift up my hands to Your commandments, which I love; And I will meditate on Your statutes" (Psalm 119:44-48).

May we hold fast to the Word of God; keep the Word of God; seek the Word of God; speak of and delight in the Word of God; love and meditate on the Word of God, which is more sure than any supposed private revelation. Blessed is the man who...delights is in the law of the Lord (Ps. 1:1-6).