Reformed theology (Calvin, Reformed Church theologians, and Presbyterian theologians) generally taught that the supernatural gifts of the Spirit and power of God’s manifestations were for the purpose of launching the first-century Ecclesia and are not for today. Once the Bible was written these gifts were no longer needed, especially revelatory gifts since we had God’s written revelation. The perfect had come, the Bible, and that which was imperfect, the gifts, were no longer needed. This included the gifts of apostles and prophets in Eph. 4:11 ff. This was fully argued over 100 years ago in the book Counterfeit Miracles by Princeton Professor Benjamin Warfield. (Warfield was responding to those who accepted these gifts such as A. J. Gordon of Gordon College and A. B. Simpson of the Christian and Missionary Alliance). Dispensational teachers picked up this teaching and added a new twist. The gifts of the Spirit were meant for a transitional period in moving from the Mosaic Dispensation of Law to the New Covenant Dispensation of Grace. These gifts are not for this present Dispensation of Grace. This is still in the statement of faith for all faculty at Dallas Theological Seminary. These views are known as cessationism.
This is a strange teaching since all of the passages on supernatural gifts (Romans 12, I Cor. 12, 14, etc.) do not give any time limits but assume their continuation until the return of Yeshua. It is also the consensus of commentators that when “that which is perfect is come” refers to the Age to Come and the Age of the direct rule of Yeshua. If we add the text from Eph. 4:11 we note that it teaches that the listed leadership gift ministries for the “equipping of the saints for the work of ministry” continues until we come to unity and the full maturity of the Messiah. This is well interpreted in Craig Keeners great book Spirit Hermeneutics.
The two great refutations of this cessationism are exegetical and empirical. The most complete exegetical refutation I know is John Mark Ruthven’s, The Cessation of the Charismata. Professor Ruthven takes on Warfield in a comprehensive review. He exegetes passage after passage to show that part of the essence of the New Covenant is the presence of the Spirit that shows Himself in the prophetic gifting in all believers. It is an amazing study. Also, Gordon Fee’s His Empowering Presence on the teaching of the Spirit in the Pauline corpus shows cessationism to be an impossible interpretation.
The second refutation is that worldwide, but especially in Southern Hemisphere Christianity, the supernatural gifts of the Spirit and signs and wonders are a significant part of the progress of the Gospel. It is real, miraculous, and not imagination. Today the leaders of the World Evangelical Alliance estimate that they network 600 million Christians, 400 million are Pentecostal=Charismatics, and 200 million non-Charismatics. Why 400 million? The supernatural is key to the advance of the Gospel. Craig Keener is today the President of the prestigious Evangelical Theological Society. His two-volume set, Miracles, the Credibility of New Testament Miracles is definitive. The same kind of miracles seen in the pages of the New Testament are happening frequently all over the world, but especially in the Southern Hemisphere. Keener traveled the world To document many examples of most of the same kinds of miracles as in the New Testament. His book is affirmed by many Evangelical scholars in the United States. The Classical Dispensational view on miracles today and the supernatural gifts of the Spirit has certainly been refuted.