Dear
Dr. MacArthur,
I
have admired you as an able writer and speaker for years. I have not only read
your book Strange Fire but listened to your talks as well as the
panel discussions at your recent conference. I am as Reformed theologically as
you are and can say we are on the same page when it comes to many issues you
address.
I
was not prepared, however, for some of the things you said. I had to reread some
parts to be sure you said what I thought you said.
First,
if your book purports the danger of offending the Holy
Spirit with counterfeit worship, I fear you are in greater danger of
offending the Holy Spirit by attributing His work to Satan. Does this
not worry you? You are risking an awful lot by counting on cessationism to be
totally true. You have tried to turn the hypothetical teaching of cessationism into dogma.
Second,
surprisingly, you imply that my predecessor Dr. Martyn Lloyd-Jones would agree
with you. A major portion of my own book Holy Fire is devoted to what he believed regarding the
gifts, the baptism and the immediate witness of the Holy
Spirit. He was no cessationist; he loathed cessationism. Nearly every Pentecostal and
charismatic in Britain knew he was their friend. Not only that, but he turned
more of them into Reformed thinkers than anybody in the 20th century. He would
be horrified that you dismiss as demonic all contemporary testimonies of
experiencing the direct work of the Spirit. According to you, my own baptism
with the Spirit was demonic even though it led me to Reformed theology without
reading a single word of John Calvin.
Third,
to be consistent, if you have got it right, we should counsel new Christians to
disregard many Scriptures, such as those that encourage us to believe Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today and forever
(Heb. 13:8), that He still shows us when we are on the wrong track (Phil. 3:15),
that the Holy Spirit cannot speak today as He did to Philip (Acts
8:29) or that we should covet earnestly the best gifts (1 Cor. 12:31).
I
hope you will consider reading my book. It will do you no harm and, just maybe,
you might hear God speak to you in a way you never thought possible. I only pray with all my heart that you have not gone too
far already. In the second panel discussion at your conference you actually
said, “I know I am wrong somewhere.” If so, who would you listen to? Would you
not want to know as soon as possible if you have got it wrong on those matters
you are so dogmatic about?
If
I knew for sure it would be honoring to God, for the sake of sincere Christians
who are fence-straddling on cessationism, I would ask that you and I have a
civil debate (presidential style) on the issue of cessationism. Could we pray
about this?
R.T.
Kendall
R.T. Kendall was the pastor of Westminster Chapel in London from
1977 to 2002. He now lives in Nashville, Tenn. He is a well-known speaker and
the author of many books.
