I recently heard of a "revival" going on in Florida and have been asked what I think about it. I am always skeptical of things like revivals and individuals that seem to sensationalize Christianity. Sometimes, perhaps I am too skeptical. I have faith that God CAN do anything - I do not want to limit God. But I wonder DOES God do things like mass healings, speaking in tongues, prophetic words, etc as often as He used to? I believe that, since the closing of the cannon of Scripture, the sign gifts have been... less obviously manifested (to put it nicely and optimistically.)
I do have some concern when
some brothers and sisters claim that God is still revealing himself to His people in limitless ways.
I read this quote and raised an eyebrow "We recognize that God is continually restoring truth and light to His Church. Therefore, we place no limit on further revelation; however, each must be substantiated according to the Scriptures." Other non-Christian cults claim to receive extra-biblical revelation and compare it against the Bible.
If we believe that the Bible is complete, and lacking nothing, do we NEED any more revelation from God? If we truly believe that the Bible is God's full revelation, we should question why He is still revealing new truth to the world. And if He is revealing new truth to the world, why only certain people? Why not everyone?
I remain a healthy skeptic. God CAN do anything, but I believe He has revealed everything to His people that needs to be revealed. We as a body of believers should be more focused on fulfilling the commission in Matt 28 than seeking after the gifts of 1 Cor. 14.
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Just because the Bible is complete does not mean that revelation, even special revelation, has ceased. That seems to be taking the position that every revelation that is from God is "Bible-worthy." Some special revelation is given that is not ever recorded in scripture, but it is still revelation and still a message from the Almighty.
Take, for example, Philip, the Evangelist's four daughters who were prophetesses in Acts. We know there were four ladies who received special revelation from God and communicated those messages to the people to whom God intended them to speak and yet, not one word of their prophesies is ever recorded in the Bible.
Another example is the two witnesses in Revelation 11:3 where we see that the two witnesses will prophesy for so many days. This clearly takes place after the closing of the cannon, yet the scriptures tell us that further specific revelation will be given and that it will be communicated to the masses.
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