Description
Did God intend for the miraculous gifts, so powerfully present during the ministry of the apostles, to continue throughout the church age? This crucial question has massive implications for every follower of Jesus Christ. Sadly, the debate over this issue has often produced more heat than light. But in the end, only one factor should determine how we answer that question: What does the Bible say?
In A Biblical Case for Cessationism, Tom Pennington carefully considers seven primary biblical arguments for the cessation of the miraculous gifts of the Spirit. As a seasoned pastor and faithful expositor, Tom will help you consider what Scripture teaches about an issue that affects every aspect of the Christian experience—from your view of Scripture and philosophy of church ministry to your daily walk as a disciple of Jesus Christ and your relationship with the Holy Spirit.
Endorsements
We live in a day in which charismatic teaching has misled many people. A wave of powerful personalities and hyper-emotionalism has left the church vulnerable to doctrinal aberrations. A Biblical Case for Cessationism is a much-needed antidote, providing a careful handling of Scripture and survey of church history on this crucial matter. I believe this book will guide you into a biblical understanding of the Holy Spirit and His gifts. —Steven J. Lawson, President, OnePassion Ministries, Professor, The Master’s Seminary, Teaching Fellow, Ligonier Ministries, Lead Preacher, Trinity Bible Church of Dallas
As one who has devoted much of his ministry to engaging the very serious errors of the charismatic movement that have shipwrecked the faith of so many, I cannot say enough good things about Dr. Tom Pennington’s latest book, A Biblical Case for Cessationism. Dr. Pennington has provided the believer who is rightly skeptical of the charismatic movement yet feels ill-equipped to biblically answer its claims and practices, a tremendously helpful resource. This is a must have for the pastor and layman alike. I am so grateful to Tom for this important contribution to the body of Christ. —Justin Peters, Evangelist and Apologist
We must honor and love the Holy Spirit, for He is God. One of the most important ways to do that is to base our beliefs about the Spirit on the Holy Scriptures that He inspired. Tom Pennington presents a convincing argument from God’s Word that the Holy Spirit no longer gives miraculous gifts to His servants. Here is a book that both cessationists and charismatics should read, sincerely asking, “What saith the Scripture?” —Joel R. Beeke, President, Puritan Reformed Theological Seminary, Grand Rapids, MI
At time when much confusion and opposition persists concerning cessationism, Tom Pennington shows from Scripture why by God’s design certain gifts of Spirit given for the founding of the New Testament church did not continue beyond the time of the apostles. Clearly written, it will benefit a wide readership. —Richard B. Gaffin, Jr., Professor of Biblical and Systematic Theology, Emeritus Westminster Theological Seminary, Philadelphia
Tom Pennington has written a brief biblical case for cessationism, a case that takes seriously not only the final authority of Scripture, but its sufficiency as the church’s “only rule of faith and life.” Just as our Lord Jesus Christ’s life was shaped and informed alone by “every word that proceeds from the mouth of God,” so also is that of every believer in him. Pennington ably answers the objections of “continuationists,” but more importantly grounds the case for cessationism in the words of Holy Scripture. This “vade mecum” (“a go with me,” a book that fits into your pocket) will become a standard reference for Christians who want their lives to be defined alone by God’s wholly sufficient Word. —Ian Hamilton, President of Westminster Presbyterian Theological Seminary in Newcastle, England
Tom Pennington has irrefutably set forth the case for the historic Christian conviction that there were certain gifts of the Holy Spirit that were foundational for the entire life of the whole history of the church of Jesus Christ. That apostolic foundation was so undestroyable that until the parousia, every church in the world has to be built on that foundation laid by the apostles in the Scriptures. As you can tell from Tom’s writing, we cessationists are longing to meet and hear Spirit-anointed preachers. We are restless hearing sermons that seem little more than “glorified Bible studies.” Where are the men with an awakening ministry? We yearn for times of refreshing from the presence of the Lord. “Revive thy work, O Lord,” is the prayer of everyone who believes that the gift of an apostle was an unrepeatable foundational gift. The cement truck does not need to return each week to lay another and another and yet another foundation. When the great preacher, the late Edward Donnelly, correctly called our position “a we-have-it-all-ists” stance, he was not saying that we can just sit back and do nothing. He was talking about the sufficiency of Scripture to face the challenges of the 21st century as it has throughout the last 20. Not one Christian will stand in the coming great day of evaluation and say to God, “You did not equip me with enough weapons for the fight.” Our Lord will say, “Did I not give you a Word that is alive and powerful and sharper than any two-edged sword? Did not I, the triune God, indwell you so that you always had illimitable access to me? Did I not promise you that you could do everything I wanted you to do through Christ who strengthened you?” We have all the immeasurable provision of God, and what we are lacking is something we have failed to ask God for. God has provided each mere gospel Christian with a message that is so astonishing that angels desire to look into it. It is so profound that even they have to stoop to do so. We must constantly ask God that we may powerfully preach this word of such mystery, wonder, riches, and paradox that our congregations cry out, “Oh! The depth of this glorious message!” That is what we cry for, not more revelations from heaven. If we are not yearning for that awesome impact of such a message, then we have failed in our vocation and have cheated our hearers. Beware of excusing ourselves by saying our lack of conversions is all because God has not given us revelatory miraculous gifts and that the answer to that is yet more and more and longer praying, which even the most childlike praying is the most difficult thing to do in all the world, to agonize in intercession, but then compounding that by urging us to also be pleading for more revelatory gifts? Come on! We have the Lord Jesus. We have the Holy Spirit. Trust in your God-given supplies. Be steadfast and unmovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord. Such labors are never in vain. Ask God for all the help to preach the God-breathed word and exalt Christ.” —Geoffrey Thomas, Retired pastor for fifty years in Alfred Place Baptist Church, Aberystwyth Wales
If you are wondering what the Bible teaches about charismatic gifts, this is the book for you. Sadly, this is an area in which there is much confusion and misinformation, but Tom Pennington has written a clear and accessible case for the traditional view of Christians — that God sovereignly gave certain gifts and manifestations of His Holy Spirit to authenticate the teaching of the earliest messengers of Jesus Christ. Not only has this been the position of Christians for generations, it is also manifestly what the Bible teaches. What a refreshing presentation of the clear teaching of Scripture, reminding us of the ongoing work of the Holy Spirit through the Word of God, and the glorious ways in which God chose to spotlight the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. —Jonathan Master, President, Greenville Presbyterian Theological Seminary
