David Platt has reported what appears to be a case in which an apparently dead man came back to life while believers were praying for him and sharing the gospel in his village. Read the story if you haven’t. It is remarkable.
Let me unnerve everyone by being uncharacteristically brief: I’m inclined, apart from contradictory evidence, to receive this story (and any like it) as true. I therefore rejoice at what God has done and contribute my own Hallelujah.
I do not hold any sort of cessationism that would suggest that God could not or would not do such a thing as this. Rather, I hold the sort of cessationism that (humbly, I hope) observes that there seems to be no one around who (as the apostles did) can effect such miracles at will (or, if you prefer, routinely, and with well-placed confidence that when they commanded it, it would take place, such that it was a surprise to any informed and unbiased observer if it didn’t happen, not if it did). These Asian believers do not claim that they have some gift of being able to raise people from the dead; they simply testify that God did such a thing before their eyes.
Yes, it could be a hoax. I’m nevertheless inclined to rejoice rather than doubt. We who do so may be embarrassed later if someone is pulling the wool over our eyes, but there’s always some risk associated with rejoicing over some great thing that God has done. Missing out on the rejoicing is too high a price to pay for eliminating the risk of embarrassment. After all, we are confident, are we not, that ultimately He will not put us to shame?
