“When we speak of the biblical sign gifts, we are referring to miracles like speaking in tongues, visions, healing, raising the dead, and prophesying” (Got Questions) (click to open). There are three major periods of sign gifts or sign miracles. Paul in 1 Corinthians 1:22 noted that “the Jews require a sign.” This has been the history of unbelieving Israel.
Sign miracles to authenticate Moses and Joshua. In Exodus four, God enabled Moses to perform the first sign miracles to authenticate Moses’ leadership to unbelieving Israel. Sign miracles ceased until Elijah and Elisha.
Sign miracles to authenticate Elijah and Elisha. The sign miracles ceased again until the time of Jesus and His apostles.
Sign miracles to authenticate Jesus (Mt 8-9) and His apostles (2 Cor 12:12). Sign miracles have ceased until the time when God deals with unbelieving Israel again in the Tribulation period (Rev 11).
Four Different Views on the Sign Gifts for Today
1. Pentecostalism or First Wave Pentecostalism in the early 1900s
This is the belief that the baptism of the Holy Spirit is usually subsequent to salvation and is evidenced by speaking in tongues. All spiritual gifts are operative for today and must be sought. "The baptism of believers in the Holy Ghost is witnessed by the initial physical sign of speaking with other tongues as the Spirit of God gives them utterance" (Constitution of Assemblies of God [the largest Pentecostal denomination]).
2. Charismatic or Second Wave Pentecostalism in the 1960s (click to open)
“These folks, many of them, operated within established denominations and were not necessarily driven out. Even within the Roman Catholic Church, there arose charismatic Roman Catholics who claimed to have had these experiences and came to be tolerated within the mainline movements.” Those who advocate this view are not dogmatic on the timing of the baptism of the Holy Spirit, (whether at conversion or subsequent or the evidence of speaking in tongues).
3. The “Third Wave” movement began in the 1980s
Advocates of the “Third Wave” represent another Charismatic renewal movement emphasizing "Power Evangelism." The late, John Wimber, former senior pastor of the Vineyard Christian Fellowship in Anaheim, California advocated "Power Evangelism:"
"Power evangelism is evangelism that is preceded and undergirded by supernatural demonstrations of God's presence .... Usually this takes the form of words of knowledge . . . healing, prophecy, and deliverance from evil spirits" (John Wimber, Power Evangelism, San Francisco: Harper & Row, 1986, p. 45).
Wayne Grudem, a reformed theologian who is part of this movement wrote: "They teach, however, that baptism in the Holy Spirit happens to all Christians at conversion, and that subsequent experiences are better called 'filling' with the Holy Spirit" (Wayne Grudem, Systematic Theology, Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 1994, p. 763).
"While an experience of being filled with the Holy Spirit may result in the gift of speaking in tongues, or in the use of some other gifts that had not previously been experienced, it also may come without the gift of speaking in tongues. In fact, many Christians throughout history have experienced powerful infillings of the Holy Spirit that have not been accompanied by speaking in tongues. With regard to this gift as well as all other gifts, we must simply say that the Holy Spirit 'apportions each one individually as he will' (1 Cor 12:11)'" (Wayne Grudem, Systematic Theology, Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 1994, 768, 784).
John Piper (click to open), identifies himself with Grudem on this view and prays occasionally that God will let him speak tongues. He believes the gift of prophecy is for today. In a sermon, he told his congregation that you might be working on the 34th floor of the IDS Tower and maybe you should call your people together and start a small group. After the service, a lady came to him and said, “I work on the 34th floor of the IDS Tower and have been thinking about starting a Bible study.” Piper identified that experience as the gift of prophecy and said to the lady, “I think that is a gift from God to you.” In other words, this is a revelation from God through me to you. For Piper modern-day prophecy is not just forth telling or preaching the gospel, it is giving additional revelation not on par with Scripture but nevertheless revelation from God. Piper states the gift of prophesy happens when God gives the preacher revelation not in his notes. The preacher did not plan to say what was spontaneous in the act of preaching.
4. Cessationism
Cessationism is the belief that the sign gifts ceased with the Apostles. I agree with both Michael Horton and Daniel Wallace on cessationism. Michael Horton (a reformed theologian) is a cessationist from the reformed camp. He directly refutes Grudem’s and indirectly Piper’s views:
However, I do not find Grudem’s case for continuing prophecy persuasive .... Grudem believes that the kind of prophecy that is ongoing in the church is distinguished from preaching and teaching by being “a spontaneous ‘revelation’ from God….” (Grudem, Systematic Theology, 1058):
So the distinction is quite clear:
If a message is the result of conscious reflection on the text of Scripture, containing interpretation of the text and application to life, then it is (in New Testament terms) a teaching. But if a message is the report of something God brings suddenly to mind, then it is a prophecy. (Grudem, Systematic Theology, 1058).
In my view, [Horton] this interpretation introduces a definition of prophecy that is not consistent with its practice in the apostolic church. Nowhere is prophecy distinguished by its spontaneous quality.
Daniel Wallace is a cessationist from the more dispensational camp. He identified himself as a cessationist: I speak from a non-charismatic or cessationist position. That is to say, I believe that certain gifts of the Holy Spirit were employed in the earliest stage of Christianity to authenticate that God was doing something new. These "sign gifts"--such as the gifts of healing, tongues, and miracles--ceased with the death of the last apostle.