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Acts 1:8; 2:4,17-18, "And being assembled together with them, He commanded them not to depart from Jerusalem, but to wait for the Promise of the Father, 'which,' He said, 'you have heard from Me; for John truly baptized with water, but you shall be baptized with the Holy Spirit not many days from now.... But you shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be witnesses to Me in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth... And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak with other tongues, as the Spirit gave them utterance... On the day of Pentecost the church was assembled together in one accord, seeking the Lord. Then a mighty rushing wind came blowing through the place and people who have never spoken another language were now bi-lingual and multi-lingual, speaking in the languages of men and of angels. The Lord poured out his power in such an unusual and unexpected way that onlookers thought these saints of God were drunk. This happened on the day of Pentecost, the day that they celebrated the harvest. Pentecost means "fiftieth," it is only mentioned of in the New Testament, (Acts 2:1; 20:16; 1 Corinthians 16:8). Pentecost happened exactly fifty days after the Passover. That is why it was called Pentecost of the fiftieth day. In the Old Testament the festival was called "the feast of harvest," or "the day of the first fruits" (Exodus 23:16; Exodus 34:22; Numbers 28:26). From the sixteenth of the month of Nisan (the second day of the Passover), seven complete weeks or forty-nine days had to pass and then this feast was held on the fiftieth day. The purpose of this feast was to commemorate the completion of the grain harvest. The New Testament Jewish followers of Jesus were partaking in the traditional Pentecost festival when God disturbed there proceeding and poured out his power in an unusual fashion, (Leviticus 23:15-19; Numbers 28:27-29; Acts 2:1-4). The day of Pentecost the day on which the Church was birthed when the Spirit descended upon the apostles, causing Peter to stand up and preach, converting a multitude of sinners, (Acts 2). In all reality those who call themselves Pentecostals today are not Pentecostals because they do not celebrate the feast of the harvest. What most call Pentecostals today are really Charismatic or those who manifest the gifts of Gods spirit. Charis in the Greek means free gift or grace and mata is means spiritual. So, followers of Jesus Christ who flow in spiritual gifts are spiritually gifted and should be called Charismatic not Pentecostal. That is really an oxymoron. What is even worse when a Pentecostal and a Charismatic fight over which is correct being Pentecostal or Charismatic. Generally the terms are used to denote the difference between tongue talkers and independent spirit filled Christians. People that are generally considered Pentecostal believe that speaking in tongues is the initial physical evidence and are part of a mainline Pentecostal denomination. Charismatic believers tend to be non-denominational believers who believe in the full operation of spiritual gifts but do not necessarily believe that tongues is the main give or even the initial evidence. The bible promises an outpouring of the Holy Spirit upon all flesh in the last days. Many claim that the gifts of the spirit ceased with the last of the apostles however that theory is faulty. The end times will be sealed with and outpouring of the spirit upon all the earth including the gift of prophecy which is the gift of the spirit that Paul commands us to seek first above all other spiritual gifts. Many who believe in the cessation of charismata used 1 Cor 13 which says, "when that which is perfect has come tongues will cease." Now they assume that either when the bible was complete or the apostles died that the gifts of the spirit ceased. Two things stand out in my mind, the first is that 1 Cor 13 also says that knowledge will cease however Daniel says that in the last days knowledge will increase. If cessation doctrine is true then these two things seem to contradict each other. We know the bible doesn't contradict itself only false doctrine does when brought under the light of scripture. That which is perfect is the millennial reign of Christ, we are not in the millennium. Secondly, there were more apostles than just the initial 12, (Luke 6:13; Acts 1; 13:1-3; Romans 16:4-8). Matthias replaced Judas as one of the original 12 founding apostles. Barnabas and Paul were called apostles, along with Junias who as a female apostle and quite a few others, (Acts 1:13,26; 11:1; 14:14; 15:2,4,6,12,13,22; Rom 16:7; 1 Cor 12:28; 15:5-9; 2 Cor 12:12; Eph 2:20; 3:5; 4:11; Heb 3:1; 1 Pet 5:1-4, Rev 18:20). The Gifts of the spirit are for today and the gifts of the spirit are for you. If you want the gift of the spirit, the promise of the father all you have to do is ask and the bible says God will give it to you. You have to be hungry for God, to receive you do not have to be holy you just have to be hungry. Who knows when the cessation theory began? It was most likely a comfortable way to explain away the conviction and the power of the Holy Ghost.
"Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today and forever," Hebrews 13:8
The Cessation of Cessation Theology
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