There may be some irregular sorts of missions and church planting efforts through which the Spirit is pleased to act. It is not our business to tell the Holy Spirit where and when he may act. It is our business, however, to be faithful to God’s Word. We know what God’s revealed will and Word are from the Scriptures and we are not bound to fallible interpretations of providence.

The Reformation Still Matters

Sometimes when we talk about the Reformation we give or receive the impression that it was purely a historical event with no continuing relevance or even that Reformation is one thing and mission is another. Here is an episode that illustrates wonderfully the continuing relevance of the Reformation in several respects. On September 19, 2019 The Christian Post ran an article recounting a story told at a recent conference by a church planter in the Middle East. According to the story, recounted by the church planter, the Lord Jesus has personally visited a man to reveal to him directly the gospel of John. The story goes on to repeat the claim that a great number of Muslims are being converted to the Christian faith through dreams and direct revelations of the Lord. The church planter is quoted as saying, “‘I learned a valuable lesson: God will do his part, but we still have to do ours,’ he added.

AGR is not posting a direct link to the article, however, because it is illustrated with a violation of the second commandment of God’s holy law but the article and the story it contains is great illustration of the continuing relevance of the Reformation for missions.

The Holy Spirit Is Still Free

Let me preface my criticisms by saying that Muslims are coming to saving faith through the faithful proclamation of the law and the gospel. It is not safe for them for me to say where or when but there are reliable accounts of such from credible witnesses. That Muslims, Hindus, and others should come to new life and true faith is a thing very much to be desired and an answer to much prayer. We should pray fervently that the church would send men faithful, prepared to plant churches, to preach the law and the gospel, and to reach the lost with the gospel. We should pray that the Holy Spirit would soften the hearts of his elect and draw them to new life and true faith where ever they are. We should pray for a great ingathering of Muslims who are being converted by the work of the Spirit through the preached gospel.

Further, the Dutch have a saying that fits here: God uses crooked sticks to strike straight blows. There may be some irregular sorts of missions and church planting efforts through which the Spirit is pleased to act. It is not our business to tell the Holy Spirit where and when he may act. It is our business, however, to be faithful to God’s Word. We know what God’s revealed will and Word are from the Scriptures and we are not bound to fallible interpretations of providence.

Sola Scriptura Still Matters

The Reformation doctrine of Sola Scriptura (according to Scripture alone) holds that the Bible is God’s infallible Word, that it does not err, that it was given by the Holy Spirit, and that it is the final authority for the Christian faith and the Christian life. It was originally articulated in the context of Romanist claims that the Roman communion had authority to revise Scripture (e.g., by denying the cup in the Lord’s Supper to the laity), or to add to Scripture, e.g., by imposing doctrines and practices not imposed by the Word itself. It was also formulated in the context of Anabaptist claims of continuing miracles and revelation.

With the rise of the Modern missions movement in the 18th century and with the rise of the modern Pentecostal movement in the 19th and 20th centuries, the Reformation doctrine of sola Scriptura remains relevant. The history of Modern missions (since the 18th century) is replete with examples of unverified claims of apostolic-like direct revelation or other sorts of quasi-apostolic miracles and wonders. On this see B. B. Warfield, Counterfeit Miracles (1918). The patterns that he observed a century ago have only intensified with the growth of Pentecostalism and the Charismatic movements. The claim that Muslims are receiving dreams, visions, and apparitions of the risen Lord is a part of the culture of Modern missions and especially of Modern Charismatic and Pentecostal piety. We are not obligated to accept these claims, which are almost always second or third-hand accounts.

The Reformation insistence that Scripture alone is the Word of God and that direct revelation of Scripture has ended with the close of the canon is a great guardian against such claims, which always work against the unique and final authority of the Word of God.

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