Signs and wonders

Did signs and wonders stop with the first apostles?

What are signs and wonders?
Jesus obviously did them and his immediate followers performed miracles, signs and wonders, but does that mean we should be doing that now in the 21st century?

How do we recognise whether it is God who is moving, or not?
We look at what the core focus was in the early church and then look at modern examples.

Does the Charismatic Movement, the third wave of the Holy Spirit and the Father’s Blessing move in signs and wonders?

1. What is the primary reason for signs and wonders?

What is the meaning of signs and wonders in the Bible?

The next quote shows that the mighty wonders of giving the blind their sight, making the lame to walk, the deaf to hear, cleansing lepers, setting the oppressed free, preaching the good news and even raising the dead were all signs that the promised Messiah would perform.

Knowing this, Jesus at the beginning of his ministry went to his local synagogue in Nazareth on the Sabbath day to read Isaiah’s prophetic word describing what the Messiah would do:

(Jesus) stood up to read, and the scroll of the prophet Isaiah was handed to him.
Unrolling it, he found the place where it is written:
‘The Spirit of the Lord is on me, because he has anointed me to proclaim good news to the poor.
He has sent me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners and recovery of sight for the blind, to set the oppressed free, to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favour.’

Luke 4:17-19 ESV

And then he declared his intention to fulfil that prophecy by saying “Today this scripture is fulfilled in your hearing.”

Later, when John the Baptist was in a prison cell and having doubts about Jesus being the Messiah, Jesus answered John’s disciples by reiterating the true signs of the Messiah by saying:

Go and tell John what you have seen and heard:
the blind receive their sight, the lame walk lepers are cleansed, and the deaf hear, the dead are raised up, the poor have good news preached to them.”

Luke 7:22 ESV

So the primary objective for signs and wonders is to demonstrate that Jesus is the Messiah.

2. Signs and wonders after Jesus

The apostles of Jesus were enabled to do signs and wonders:

So Paul and Barnabas spent considerable time there, speaking boldly for the Lord, who confirmed the message of his grace by enabling them to perform signs and wonders.“

Acts 14:3 NIV

We see that Jesus had passed the baton onto his immediate followers.
Again, the primary objective for signs and wonders is to demonstrate that Jesus is the Messiah.

how shall we escape if we ignore so great a salvation?
This salvation, which was first announced by the Lord, was confirmed to us by those who heard him.
God also testified to it by signs, wonders and various miracles, and by gifts of the Holy Spirit distributed according to his will.“

Hebrews 2:3-4 NIV

Does this get passed to us as believers now?
Jesus gives a promise that has no cut-off point:

Go into all the world and preach the gospel to all creation.
Whoever believes and is baptised will be saved, but whoever does not believe will be condemned.
And these signs will accompany those who believe:
in my name they will drive out demons; they will speak in new tongues; they will pick up snakes with their hands; and when they drink deadly poison, it will not hurt them at all; they will place their hands on people who are ill, and they will get well.”

Mark 16:15-18 NIV

The verses above inform us that believers will be given the authority to drive out demons, speak in tongues and heal people.
So signs and wonders go along with the preaching of the word.

3. Did signs and wonders cease along with the original apostles?

Some believe that signs and wonders have ceased, others say they still happen, some say there are still apostles around today, and others disagree.
What follows are some of the arguments:

When ‘the perfect comes’ (1 Cor.13:10) prophecy, tongues, etc, will pass away.

When the perfect comes, yes, prophecy, etc, will cease, but what is the perfect?

Some interpret that the gifts ceased with the closure of the canon of Scripture, or in other words when the Bible as we know it today was put together as one book.
Thomas Schreiner believes this, but he does not completely rule it out:

Evangelicals dispute whether the miraculous gifts of the apostolic era continue today (which is called continuationism) or whether they have ceased (which is called cessationism).
Pentecostals and charismatics argue for the continuation of the gifts, and such a position has been advocated especially since the early 1900s with the arrival of Pentecostalism and has been furthered by second and third wave charismatics…
The miraculous gifts have ceased because they played a particular role in redemptive history in accrediting the ministry, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ…
I am not denying that God in his sovereignty may choose to grant such signs and wonders in cutting-edge missionary ventures today (nor is the argument that God never does miracles today), but such a state of affairs is out of the ordinary.
It was vital in the first generation that Christ’s ministry and the apostolic word was verified and confirmed…”

‘The Miraculous Gifts and the Question of Cessationism’ By Thomas Schreiner. The Gospel Coalition.

I agree that it was vital to have signs and wonders to affirm Jesus’ death and resurrection.
It was also important in laying the foundation of the New Testament writings being “built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets” ¹

But what proof do we have that the gifts ceased with the closure of the canon of Scripture?
Those in favour of this belief would quote the verses below:

Love never ends. As for prophecies, they will pass away; as for tongues, they will cease; as for knowledge, it will pass away.
For we know in part and we prophesy in part, but when the perfect* comes, the partial will pass away.

1 Corinthians 13:8-10 ESV

The word ‘perfect*’ used here in the Greek is ‘τέλειος’ (teleios) which means ‘perfect, mature, finished’.
This gives us no clear answer, it could be speaking about the new heaven and new Earth, or it could mean the completion of the canon of Scripture.

But if we continue to read first Corinthians into verse twelve it states, “For now we see in a mirror dimly, but then face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I have been fully known.”
I cannot see how anyone can say that God is as clear as someone standing in front of us, or that we know fully and completely all things about the Kingdom of God.

The apostle tells us that we will only fully understand when we see Jesus at his second coming and we receive new resurrection bodies:

Beloved, we are God’s children now, and what we will be has not yet appeared; but we know that when he appears we shall be like him, because we shall see him as he is.”

1 John 3:2 ESV

That level of knowledge and knowing will only come to us when we meet God at that moment in time.

So, I believe that signs and wonders will pass away when Jesus returns and surely we need the gospel message to be confirmed now in our cynical society?
I do not mean signs and wonders that promote a man’s ministry, but a true demonstration of God’s power that brings glory to the Lord Jesus Christ.

The argument is that signs and wonders are (almost) no longer in use.

John Vernon McGee (June 17, 1904 – December 1, 1988) was an American ordained Presbyterian minister, pastor, Bible teacher, theologian, and radio minister. ²

In his commentary on the verses from Mark’s gospel which tells us:

And these signs will accompany those who believe:
In my name they will drive out demons; they will speak in new tongues; they will pick up snakes with their hands; and when they drink deadly poison, it will not hurt them at all; they will place their hands on sick people, and they will get well.”

Mark 16:17-18 ESV

J Vernon McGee believed that the majority of the signs and wonders died out after the first apostles and he wrote:

These signs have followed the preaching of the gospel.
But they are not signs to continue the preaching of the gospel.
They disappeared even in the early church, but they do manifest themselves on some primitive mission frontiers even today.
But if someone maintains that they are injunctions for today, then one must accept them all, even the drinking of a deadly poison.
Even before the end of the first century, the sign gifts were no longer the credentials of the apostles.
The test was correct doctrine (see 2 John 10). It is the Word of God that is the great sign in this hour.”

J. Vernon McGee, Thru the Bible Commentary: The Gospels (Mark)³

Vernon McGee mentions the verse in John’s second letter which states, “If anyone comes to you and does not bring this teaching do not receive him into your house or give him any greeting, for whoever greets him takes part in his wicked works.”

His point is that John does not say, ‘If they don’t perform signs and miracles then do not welcome them’.
He believes that signs and wonders do not appear today, except for places where the gospel has never been preached before.

The question to ask is, how many people know the gospel in our society now?
Does our culture now need signs and wonders?

4. Is the rule of reliable prophecies still applicable today?

In the Old Testament it is very clear that only reliable, true prophecies were allowed:

But the prophet who presumes to speak a word in my name that I have not commanded him to speak, or who speaks in the name of other gods, that same prophet shall die.
And if you say in your heart, ‘How may we know the word that the Lord has not spoken?’— when a prophet speaks in the name of the Lord, if the word does not come to pass or come true, that is a word that the Lord has not spoken; the prophet has spoken it presumptuously. You need not be afraid of him.”

Deuteronomy 18:20-22 ESV

We can see that Old Testament prophecy was infallible and flawless so surely New Testament prophecies ought to be the same.

Those who believe that NT prophecies can include errors will quote this verse:

Let two or three prophets speak, and let the others weigh** what is said.”

1 Corinthians 14:29 ESV

The word translated as weigh** is διακρίνω (diakrinō) which means ‘to judge/doubt’.

There should be people within the church that have a good knowledge of the Scriptures to judge whether the prophecy is in error, or not.
With my early Christian background the ethos was very much ‘give it a go and if it is wrong do not worry’.

But in the light of Scripture, that is a dangerous position to hold, because of all the warnings that are given within the New Testament:

And many false prophets will arise and lead many astray.”

Matthew 24:11 ESV

Beloved do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God, for many false prophets have gone out into the world.”

1 John 4:1 ESV

But false prophets also arose among the people just as there will be false teachers among you, who will secretly bring in destructive heresies, even denying the Master who bought them…”

2 Peter 2:1 ESV

The ultimate test for a false prophet is their lifestyle:

Beware of false prophets, who come to you in sheep’s clothing but inwardly are ravenous wolves.
You will recognize them by their fruits…”

Matthew 7:15 ESV

Some say that there is an error in a prophecy by Agabus which is recorded in the New Testament. Agabus said to Paul:

This is how the Jews at Jerusalem will bind the man who owns this belt and deliver* him into the hands of the Gentiles.”

Acts 21:11 ESV

Paul went to Jerusalem and the Jews wanted to kill him and a riot broke out. So the Romans pulled Paul away from the crowd (Acts 21:32).
So it could be said that the Romans rescued Paul from being killed.
But Paul saw it differently, he described the incident later and completely agreed with Agabus’ prophecy:

yet I was delivered* as a prisoner from Jerusalem into the hands of the Romans.”

Acts 28:17 ESV

The words deliver* and delivered* are both the same word ‘παραδίδωμι’ (paradidōmi) meaning ‘to deliver’ so Paul was totally in agreement with Agabus’ prophecy and therefore there is no error.

5. Are there still apostles today?

Thomas Schreiner, quoted above, makes an interesting observation:

Since we have all we need to know as believers about our salvation and sanctification in the Scriptures, no apostles or prophets are needed to declare God’s will to us…
…the church is ‘built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets’ (Eph. 2:20). There is no apostolic succession in the NT, and thus the gift of apostleship has ceased.
When James the apostle is put to death in Acts 12:2, he is not replaced as an apostle.
Paul is the ‘last’ apostle of Jesus Christ (1 Cor. 15:8), and there have been no apostles since Paul.
The apostles were necessary in the first generation to testify to Jesus Christ since the Christian movement was new.
Now that the foundation has been laid, the days of the apostles have ended.
We have the faith handed down to us once-for-all, as noted above (Jude 3; Heb. 1:2)…
…since the foundation is established, there are no prophets speaking the authoritative word of God today.
We look to the canon of Scripture as our final and sole authority.”

‘The Miraculous Gifts and the Question of Cessationism’ by Thomas Schreiner. The Gospel Coalition.

This line of argument states that the qualifications for an apostle cannot be met today, therefore there can be no apostles.

What are the qualifications of an apostle?
After Jesus had returned to heaven and Judas had killed himself, Simon Peter stood up and said regarding Judas:

“For it is written in the Book of Psalms,
‘May his camp become desolate, and let there be no one to dwell in it’ and ‘Let another take his office.’
So one of the men who have accompanied us during all the time that the Lord Jesus went in and out among us, beginning from the baptism of John until the day when he was taken up from us—one of these men must become with us a witness to his resurrection.”

Acts 1:20-22 ESV

They cast lots which fell to Matthias and so he was numbered as one of the twelve apostles.

Therefore the qualification for becoming an apostle was seeing Jesus and being a witness to his resurrection.
The apostle Paul was not one of the disciples, but he fulfils the qualification of an apostle because Jesus appeared to him in his glorified body on the road to Damascus:

Am I not free? Am I not an apostle?
Have I not seen Jesus our Lord? Are not you my workmanship in the Lord?
If to others I am not an apostle, at least I am to you, for you are the seal of my apostleship in the Lord.”

1 Corinthians 9:1-2 ESV

Also, the apostles performed signs and wonders and Paul explains that he did just that and was therefore a true apostle:

The signs of a true apostle were performed among you with utmost patience, with signs and wonders and mighty works.”

2 Corinthians 12:12 ESV

When I first became a Christian, the house church I belonged to submitted to a group who had an apostle.
But I saw no special gift in him and there were no signs and wonders.

However, the New Testament uses the term apostle in a wider sense as a missionary and church planter.
The gift, therefore, seems to be still available if understood in this sense. ⁴

Paul, writing to the church at Ephesus, makes it sound as if the position of an apostle continues after himself:

And he gave the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the shepherds and teachers to equip the saints for the work of ministry, for building up the body of Christ, until we all attain to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God to mature manhood to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ, so that we may no longer be children, tossed to and fro by the waves and carried about by every wind of doctrine, by human cunning, by craftiness in deceitful schemes.”

Ephesians 4:11-14 ESV

6. Why do so many people seek after signs and wonders?

Many people just followed Jesus to see signs and wonders and to see if they could benefit from it.
They did not test the situation to see if Jesus was the Messiah or not.
Jesus gives a warning to such people:

‘An evil and adulterous generation seeks for a sign, but no sign will be given to it except the sign of Jonah.’
So he left them and departed.”

Matthew 16:4 ESV

The ‘sign of Jonah’ was Jesus being raised from the dead.

Another thing to realise is that if people are just following signs and wonders for the wrong reason then Satan will devise false miracles and healings.
Then, they will be trapped by these deceptive signs and wonders and be led astray by false teachings.

True signs of power should underpin the preaching of the Word (from the Bible).

The coming of the lawless one is by the activity of Satan with all power and false signs and wonders”

2 Thessalonians 2:9 ESV

If you are still not convinced about deceitful miracles, signs and wonders then see Satan’s plan here:

For false Christs and false prophets will arise and perform great signs and wonders, so as to lead astray, if possible, even the elect.”

Matthew 24:24 ESV

So in other words, people will be satisfied by seeing false miracles and healings and will not turn away and see the Truth.

7. How to see if it is God that is moving – look at the core focus.

I have been a Christian now since 1976 and if there’s one thing I have learnt, it is when people are saying that God is moving in a particular place then I look to see what the core focus is – what is the central purpose.

As Christians, we realise that God involves us in His work, but do we agree that Jesus should be centre stage?
We can do nothing without Jesus and his Spirit:

Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit by itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in me.
I am the vine; you are the branches. Whoever abides in me and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing.”

John 15:4-5 ESV

When the Apostle Paul preached, it was the Lord Jesus Christ who was his central theme:

When I came to you, I did not come with eloquence or human wisdom as I proclaimed to you the testimony about God.
For I resolved to know nothing while I was with you except Jesus Christ and him crucified.
I came to you in weakness with great fear and trembling.”

1 Corinthians 2:2-3 NIV

Unfortunately, Christian leaders can fall into the trap of being raised on a pedestal and accepting the praise of the congregation, so the apostle Paul gives some advice:

For by the grace given me I say to every one of you:
do not think of yourself more highly than you ought, but rather think of yourself with sober judgment, in accordance with the faith God has distributed to each of you.”

Romans 12:3 NIV

People become very protective of their viewpoint and we can easily put on ‘blinkers’ which stop us from looking at it from a different angle.
But if we can, let’s watch the following video without prejudice and ask the question; ‘What is the core focus?’

The Bible tells us to “test everything” (1 Thessalonians 5:21) so it is not being judgemental or criticising to look at a situation that is being promoted as a revival.
Jesus, in the verse below, is not saying ‘stop judging’ he is encouraging us to assess a situation and judge correctly:

Stop judging by mere appearances, and make a right judgement.”

John 7:24 NIV

This needs reinforcing, Jesus does not say ‘don’t judge’ because we have all got to make decisions on whether things are right or wrong, so Jesus says ‘make a right judgement’.

The following short video clip shows Benny Hinn falling over and blowing on people and is described as being spiritually ‘drunk’.
We need to ask the question; Is God moving and what is Benny Hinn’s core focus?

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Who is on the pedestal here?
I would say that Benny Hinn is taking centre stage and that he is on the pedestal.
What is the core focus? Is it Bible-based? What do you think?

I know everything is not in the Bible for us to check out, but there is nothing like this in the Bible.
Yes, Jesus does ‘breathe’ on the disciples but it has none of this sensationalism or exhibitionism:

On the evening of that first day of the week, when the disciples were together, with the doors locked for fear of the Jews, Jesus came and stood among them and said, ‘Peace be with you!’
After he said this, he showed them his hands and side.
The disciples were overjoyed when they saw the Lord.
Again Jesus said, ‘Peace be with you! As the Father has sent me, I am sending you.’
And with that he breathed on them and said, ‘Receive the Holy Spirit.
If you forgive anyone his sins, they are forgiven; if you do not forgive them, they are not forgiven.’”

John 20:19-23 NIV

To learn more about Jesus breathing on the disciples see: How does ‘Receive the Holy Spirit’ differ from the ‘filling’?

After reading the Bible passage above you get a sense of God’s glory, but in my opinion, the video of Benny Hinn gives the Lord no glory at all.
Andrew Strom makes this comment:

It is my belief that in many ways the Toronto experience has been the perfect deception for today’s Laodicean church:
It cost nothing, it was ‘instant’ and convenient, it conferred spiritual blessings, touches and experiences without any need for conviction of sin, deep repentance or taking up the cross, and best of-all it gave a flagging, powerless church some new ‘signs’ to prove that all was well after all.
The real issue that lies at the heart of this whole controversy is one that revolves around the very character of God Himself.
For it is obvious that we are being asked to choose between at least two ‘Gods’ here.
On the one hand we have Toronto’s version of ‘God’ – a being who lives to bring touches and bodily sensations upon his people, who loves to ‘party’ with them – to loosen them up so that they cast off all restraint and do foolish things that they would never normally do.
Many of these touches may appear to outside observers to be ugly or even revolting and frightening (similar to asylum-type mental or drug disorders, etc), but, hey, let’s just get our mind ‘out of the way’, relax and enjoy it all!
Who cares if it looks or sounds completely demonic (animal noises, hysterical laughter, bizarre jerking, etc), so long as it feels good and seems to heal all those past hurts?
To me, this is the very essence of the touchy-feely ‘Laodicean’ view of God – a God made entirely in their own image, and for their own convenience.
Love without responsibility. Mercy without judgment. A permissive, ‘Santa Claus’ God – perfect for the shallow, pleasure-loving age in which we live.
On the other hand, there is the God of the Bible:
Yes, He is a God of love, but also of justice and of judgment. Yes, He is a God of mercy, but also of war and of vengeance…”

‘The Toronto Controversy – Disturbing New Facts From History’ by Andrew Strom. Global Christians.⁶

The above quote may seem too aggressive and too sweeping a statement, but are there any truths in what he is saying?

To stop any excesses and to stop the church from going up dead-end paths we need to keep in line with what the Bible says and to keep Jesus and him crucified as the central core focus.

8. Jesus and his Word need to be central when God is moving

Looking at this and other videos, I would say that the Lord is not on centre stage.
Charles Spurgeon said:

It is a remarkable fact that all the heresies which have arisen in the Christian Church have had a decided tendency to dishonour God and to flatter man.”

‘Self-Sufficiency Slain – Without me ye can do nothing.’ Charles Haddon Spurgeon. ⁷

These videos certainly seem to flatter man which ought to ring many alarm bells for us.

We must not be scared to question anything that seems strange in our Christian groups regarding what is said to be God moving.
Any pouring out of the Spirit needs to be grounded in the Bible.

9. Testing whether a revival is of God or not

Over the years I have observed various situations that were described as outpourings of the Holy Spirit.

One of the biggest situations, in our lifetime, that have been labelled as an outpouring of the Holy Spirit has been called: ‘The Father’s Blessing’, the ‘Toronto Blessing’, the ‘River and the Fire’ or the ‘Third Wave’.

What is revival? Martyn Lloyd-Jones gave a definition:

Revival, above everything else, is a glorification of the Lord Jesus Christ, the Son of God.
It is the restoration of him to the centre of the life of the Church.”

Martyn Lloyd-Jones quote. ⁸

Many big figures within the Toronto Blessing seem to have pushed themselves forward and there have been many weird manifestations.
Also, the Bible appears to have taken a back seat, is missing altogether, or is misquoted.

From my observations, the absence of good Bible preaching in this ‘Blessing’ is cause for great concern.

Do your best to present yourself to God as one approved, a workman who does not need to be ashamed and who correctly handles the word of truth.”

2 Timothy 2:15 NIV

With this in mind, we should test what is happening, and check out what we hear:

Now the Bereans… received the message with great eagerness and examined the Scriptures every day to see if what Paul said was true.”

Acts 17:11 NIV

David Wilkerson warned of similar things – his Pastor had said that the church wasn’t growing fast enough, then he heard of a revival and so he went to it.
On returning he got up to preach but spent the time laughing uncontrollably and there was no preaching, for three months.
David Wilkerson was saying that this is not right, a move of God will not neglect the Bible.⁹

Would the Holy Spirit who wrote this Book, the Bible, who said that the Truth will set you free, would he cause the minister to laugh so much so that he couldn’t preach this Word?

Compare this to the 18th Century when there was a noticeable change in the population from lawlessness and drunkeness to a better one due to the revival – it changed society for good.
The 18th Century Revival as it was known in Britain and the First Great Awakening in North America had the preaching from the Bible as a central role coupled with Spirit-filled Preachers.

This focus on the Bible with Spirit-filled preachers is found in all true revivals.
This is the Lord’s Blueprint:

How, then, can they call on the one they have not believed in?
And how can they believe in the one of whom they have not heard?
And how can they hear without someone preaching to them?
And how can they preach unless they are sent?
As it is written, ‘How beautiful are the feet of those who bring good news!’”

Romans 10:14-15 NIV

Good preaching is based on the Bible by a Spirit-filled preacher.
We need the Lord to perform miracles and to pour out His Spirit upon people, and for His Presence to cause weeping or joy because the disciples prayed:

…enable your servants to speak your word with great boldness.
Stretch out your hand to heal and perform miraculous signs and wonders through the name of your holy servant Jesus.”

Acts 4:29-30 NIV

10. Is the Charismatic Movement part of God’s revival?

The roots of the modern-day Charismatic Movement are embedded in three areas that have been called ‘waves’:

• In 1906 the First wave of the Holy Spirit was when the Pentecostal movement began.
• In 1960 the Second Wave of the Holy Spirit was the start of the charismatic movement which saw traditional denominations embracing the gifts of the Holy Spirit which is generally dated with Dennis Bennett’s filling of the Holy Spirit.
• In the early 1980s, the Third Wave of the Holy Spirit also known as the Neo-charismatic movement saw an increase in more conservative evangelicals embracing spiritual gifts, but not insisting that baptism in the Holy Spirit is separate from conversion, that speaking in tongues is the initial physical evidence of the baptism in the Spirit, and that all believers cannot ‘claim’ complete physical health in this present age. A big church group among them is the Vineyard Churches. Many churches in Africa already exhibited Neo-charismatic tendencies in the early twentieth century. ¹¹
  Many groups within the Third Wave also distanced themselves from the errors of the Word of Faith movement and the ‘Health and Wealth’ or ‘Prosperity’ gospel.

The main people and groups have been:

• Dennis Bennett was the rector of St. Mark’s Episcopal Church in Van Nuys, California, when on the 3rd of April 1960, he announced to his church that he had spoken in tongues.
• The Shepherding/Discipleship Movement believed that every Christian should be ‘under authority’ and have an authority ‘covering’ from a ‘shepherd’ in each church. The main propagators of this teaching were: Bob Mumford, Charles Simpson, Derek Prince, Don Basham, and Ern Baxter.
• The Full Gospel Businessmen’s Association, Pat Robertson, Kathryn Kuhlman, etc, denounced publicly the Shepherding Movement and in 1989 Bob Mumford issued an apology.
• Michael Harper was Curate to John Stott at All Souls Langham Place in London and he experienced the power of the Spirit in September of 1962.
• The Fountain Trust was established by Michael Harper in September 1965 for the renewal of the churches by the Holy Spirit.
• Renewal magazine was established by the Fountain Trust as the primary voice of the charismatic movement in England.
• The House Church Movement started in the early 1970s. The main people were: Arthur Wallis, Bryn Jones, Terry Virgo, Gerald Coates, Roger Forster, Barney Coombs, etc.
• Renewal in the Anglican Church: David Watson at St. Michael-Le-Belfrey in York in 1973. He invited John Wimber to England in 1980.
• David Pytches at St. Andrews in Chorleywood also held meetings with John Wimber. In 1989 he started New Wine.
• Sandy Millar at Holy Trinity Brompton in London was also influenced by John Wimber.¹²

Many of these experiences can be described as rediscovering the importance of the Holy Spirit giving power for witnessing and preaching.
I believe that Satan has distorted and spoilt these situations where he was allowed to intervene.
Discernment seems to have been lacking in many areas, but this should not turn us away from our need for the Holy Spirit.

11. Experiences of the Charismatic Movement and The Third Wave of the Holy Spirit

I was converted at the age of 20 (1976) through the zeal of a fellow student who attended the local Assembly of God Pentecostal Church.

During my last college year, I attended a number of the Cobham Fellowship events, such as Kingdom Life in Cobham, a celebration in the Albert Hall, etc. Gerald Coates at that time did a lot of teaching on church relationships encouraging deeper, closer friendships within the churches.

The Charismatic Movement started in California in the 1970s and spread all over the world and I got to hear about a new Charismatic House Church that had started in our town.

I began to attend in the late 1970s and the Charismatic group was very much into Bible teachers like Bryn Jones and the Dales Bible Weeks which was part of the Restoration movement that was also known as the British New Church Movement, House Church Movement, Restorationism, or Neo-Pentecostalism.

One of their themes was to set the churches free from the dividing walls of denominationalism.
They had high thoughts for the Church, believing that this verse was the church’s destiny:

In the last days the mountain of the LORD’s temple will be established as the highest of the mountains; it will be exalted above the hills, and all nations will stream to it.”

Isaiah 2:2 NIV

In the 1980s the same Charismatic House Church I attended got heavily involved in the Third Wave of the Holy Spirit and we attended large Christian meetings such as John Wimber’s ‘Signs and Wonders Conference’.

I wanted God to move in me and this country and I felt that God was the closest when we were being real and in an area of reality.
At the conference, I was sceptical because much of it appeared to be a lot of coercion and suggestion.

He (John Wimber) formed a house church that would eventually grow into the Vineyard Christian Fellowship (VCF) of Anaheim in 1977…
Wimber pastored the VCF until 1994.
Eventually, it outgrew his house and began to meet elsewhere, including the Canyon High School gym in Anaheim.
After initially joining Calvary Chapel, the church had some differences with the Calvary Chapel leadership, relating mainly to the practice of spiritual gifts, Wimber’s rejection of traditional Dispensationalism, and his embrace of Kingdom theology…
As a result of the differences over spiritual gifts, Wimber and his followers left Calvary Chapel, and joined a small group of churches started by Kenn Gulliksen, known as Vineyard Christian Fellowships, which became an international Vineyard Movement.”

‘John Wimber’ Wikipedia ¹³

John Wimber promoted a close walk with God and he wanted to see God doing signs and wonders, both of which is good if it is real and not forced.
He wanted God to break through immediately, but was he pushing too hard?
God can do miracles but it is totally on His terms of when and where and we can’t force the situation.

The thinking behind the Vineyard churches and other groups regarding miracles, signs and wonders is to make it happen within very staged events.
There, I believe, they try to force God’s hand to make everything happen within that meeting.

Even Jesus was submitted to his Father and did everything the Father was doing, Jesus said: “For I have come down from heaven, not to do my own will but the will of him who sent me.” ¹⁴ and “Truly, truly, I say to you the Son can do nothing of his own accord, but only what he sees the Father doing. For whatever the Father does, that the Son does likewise. For the Father loves the Son and shows him all that he himself is doing.” ¹⁵

Are those carrying out the more extreme charismatic manifestations doing what the Father is doing?

12. How common were signs and wonders in the early church?

What happened in the early church? Let’s look at Paul’s first missionary journey:

• Barnabas and Saul went to Cyprus (Acts 13:4).
• They PROCLAIMED THE WORD of God in all the synagogues of the Jews and covered the whole island.
• A false prophet named Bar-Jesus tried to stop them.
• But Paul spoke directly at him exposing his wicked heart and Bar-Jesus was made blind.
• The proconsul believed when he saw what had occurred.
• They then went to Antioch in Pisidia.
• PAUL PREACHED in a synagogue and many were encouraged and built up.
• The next Sabbath almost the whole city gathered TO HEAR THE WORD OF THE LORD.
• The Jews stirred up persecution against them, but many believed.
• They left for Iconium and PREACHED in a synagogue and many believed. They remained for a long time, “SPEAKING BOLDLY for the Lord, who bore witness to the word of his grace granting signs and wonders to be done by their hands.”
• Due to persecution they fled to Lystra and continued TO PREACH the gospel.
• In the marketplace, Paul PREACHED then Paul turned to a man crippled from birth “seeing that he had faith to be made well” and told him to stand up and he was healed (Acts 14:9)

The main focus for Paul was to preach the gospel.
From the timeline above, we can see that the miracles, signs and wonders do not take centre stage, they support the preaching of God’s Word.

Even Jesus’ ministry takes on this focus of preaching, more preaching, and then healing.
Another interesting point about Jesus is that he could not heal all of the time – it was only when God the Father wanted him to heal:

On one of those days, AS HE WAS TEACHING, Pharisees and teachers of the law were sitting there, who had come from every village of Galilee and Judea and from Jerusalem. And the power of the Lord was with him to heal.“

Luke 5:17 ESV

So in other words, if the power of the Lord was not there then Jesus could not heal.

Also, if there was no expectation of God moving or no faith then Jesus could not perform many miracles, signs or wonders:

And he did not do many mighty works there because of their unbelief.”

Matthew 13:58 ESV

13. Bad practices in trying to be Spirit-led in the early 1980’s and later.

In the video clip below from 1987, John Wimber talks about Power and Presence at the 2021 Vineyard National Conference:

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The House Church I attended, also started going to the Anglia Bible Week with Ern Baxter as the main visiting speaker in 1982.
Bob Mumford, Peter Parris, Peter Lewis and Stanley Jebb were there at some of the yearly events. ¹⁶

Their vision was this:

Revival is not enough if it does not restore to us the purity of sanctified life, the blessing of spiritual anointing and gifts, the humility of heart to acknowledge God’s government, and the submission of our lives to those God sets over us in His Church.”

‘Is Revival Sufficient?’ 19th May 2011 ¹⁷

This sounds good, but unfortunately I, along with many others, suffered from their idea of ‘the submission of our lives to those God sets over us in His Church’.

Our leader, and other church leaders, latched on to the idea of The Shepherding/Discipleship Movement and they believed that every Christian should be ‘under authority’.
The leaders then saw themselves as having more authority over their flock than was biblical, ending in a restrictive regime that was not healthy for the congregation.

In about 1980, the services and prayer meetings I attended took on a regular pattern with a certain number of unwritten rules:

• After every service people were invited to the front for prayer.
• People had to stand with arms and hands half raised.
• The one praying for that person would stand at their side and have to put a hand on their shoulder or back.
• There was a strong (unspoken) suggestion that the one being prayed for had to start rocking.
• Someone had to stand behind them ready to ‘catch them’ and lay them on the floor.
• The main leader would walk the line of people and stand in front of one, putting a hand, or both hands, on or near them and then pushing their hands forward, to either give the visual stimulus of falling back or in some cases pushing them back.
• If anyone still remained standing they would be encouraged not to resist God’s Spirit.

Bizarrely, there were several weeks where most of the congregation were asked one by one to sit in a wooden chair with their legs horizontally stretched out. Then if their heels were not identically together that meant one leg was longer than the other.
Surprisingly many in this ‘test’ showed that one leg was ‘longer’, so it was promptly prayed for with great enthusiasm and seemingly the ‘shorter’ leg would ‘grow’ (or the person would change their position slightly and both legs would end up being the same length).

I know that I sound judgemental and sceptical, but the atmosphere in the meetings was ideal for producing fantasies and imagining things that just weren’t there.
I believe that God created this universe just by speaking things into existence and He is well able to work miracles now.

I think this behaviour was man-led and was proudly elevating certain leaders.

14. Preaching by Dr M. Lloyd Jones

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A review of the ‘Toronto Blessing‘ known as the ‘Laughing Revival’.
When things get ‘wacky’ with something that is labelled as an outpouring of the Holy Spirit it gets very difficult to question it.
See what happened in the Belgian Congo Revival in the 1950s.

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)

References and credits – open in new tabs:

1. Ephesians 2:20 ESV ↩

2. ‘J. Vernon McGee’ Wikipedia. Last edited 31 October 2023. ↩

3. J. Vernon McGee, Thru the Bible Commentary: The Gospels (Mark), electronic ed., vol. 36 (Nashville: Thomas Nelson, 1991), 201–202. Thru the Bible ↩

4. ‘Are There Still Apostles Today?’ By Don Stewart. Blue Letter Bible. ↩

5. St. Paul Preaching at Athens; from a cartoon by Raphael for the tapestries in the Sistine Chapel; engraving by Marcantonio Raimondi; Italian School; ca. 1516. Bequeathed by Rev. Alexander Dyce. Victoria and Albert Museum. ↩

6. ‘The Toronto Controversy – Disturbing New Facts From History’ by Andrew Strom. Global Christians. ↩

7. ‘Self-Sufficiency Slain – Without me ye can do nothing.’ Charles Haddon Spurgeon. 11th November 1860. The Spurgeon Center ↩

8. ‘Is Revival Happening Now?’ by Bob Lepine Revive Our Hearts ↩

9. ‘Weird Manifestations’ – David Wilkerson Youtube ↩

10. The Miriam and Ira D. Wallach Division of Art, Prints and Photographs: Art & Architecture Collection, The New York Public Library. “Paul preaching at Athens.” The New York Public Library Digital Collection ↩

11. ‘Neo-charismatic movement’ 18 February 2023. Wikipedia ↩

12. ‘History of the Pentecostal-Charismatic Movements’ By: Sam Storms ↩

13. ‘John Wimber’ Wikipedia ↩

14. John 6:38 ESV ↩

15. John 5:19-20 ESV ↩

16. ‘The Bible Week Phenomenon’ 24 January 2010 Blogger. ↩

17. ‘Is Revival Sufficient?’ 19th May 2011 ↩