© 2004 Tony
Garland
www.SpiritAndTruth.org
The Promise of The Father |
The Day of Pentecost |
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Waiting for a Promise
Wait
in Jerusalem for "the Promise of My Father" (Luke
24:49).
What about the Kingdom?
Expectations of a promised Kingdom, based on OT
promises, were to be temporarily "put on hold." A new
dispensation, the unrevealed and unexpected
Church Age, would come first (Acts
1:4-8).
Power to Witness
Jesus
associates the empowerment of the Spirit with the Great Commission:
global evangelization
(Luke 24:49; Acts
1:8). World-wide evangelism was not an emphasis prior to
Pentecost.
(This
power to evangelize is not dependent upon a manifestation of
tongues.
Historic
evangelists such as John Wesley, George Whitfield, and Billy Graham
are not known to have spoken in tongues.)
Waiting for What?
Unlike modern-day tarrying meetings, the
recipients of the Holy Spirit had little idea what to expect. How
would they know when the Spirit had come?
The Day of Pentecost |
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Preaching
the Gospel?
There is no Scriptural evidence that
tongues were ever used as a means to present the gospel message in a
foreign language.
Peter preached the gospel in his native tongue on the Day of Pentecost (Acts 2:14-39).
Philip preached the gospel in his native tongue to the Samaritans. It was the evangelized who seem to have spoken in tongues (Acts 8:5-15).
Peter preaches the gospel to the Gentiles in a native tongue. It was the evangelized who spoke in tongues (Acts 10:34-43).
Paul explained salvation to John's disciples in his native tongue. It was the evangelized who spoke in tongues (Acts 19:2-5).
For the Disciples
The
uncoached, unexpected, pouring forth of unlearned foreign languages
was one of several evidences to show the disciples that the "Promise
of the Father " had arrived. This is how Peter interpreted the
experience (Acts 2:33,
39).
For the Jews of the Dispersion
Tongues indicated to the Jews of the diaspora
that a miraculous event of God was underway. They were amazed
and perplexed saying... "Whatever could this mean?"
(Acts 2:5-12)
For the Jews of Jerusalem
It
appears that Hebrew was not among the languages
spoken spontaneously by the disciples on the Day of Pentecost. This
explains why, "others, " the "Men of Judea and all
who dwelt in Jerusalem" mocked
(Acts
2:13-15). Tongues were a "sign for unbelieving Jews"
that they and their nation were under God's judgment (1Cor.
14:22). The Holy One of Israel was now
beginning to speak in Gentile tongues!
(Tongues are
frequently associated with judgment: Gen.
11:7-9; Deu.
28:49-50; Isa. 28:11;
Jer. 5:15; Eze.
3:5-6.)
For the Samaritans
The
rival Samaritans were dependent upon the laying on of Jewish
hands to receive the Holy Spirit (Acts
8:17). "You worship what you do not know; we know what we
worship, for salvation is of the Jews" (John
4:22).
For the Gentiles (and Jews)
Unlike
the Samaritans, the Gentiles were not dependent upon
Jewish hands for the Holy Spirit. God interrupted Peter's gospel
presentation and poured out His Spirit on the Gentiles which
astonished the Jews (Acts
10:44-46). This showed the Gentiles that they were not
second-class citizens in the Church while showing the Jews that God
had fully accepted the Gentiles apart from explicit Jewish authority
(Acts 11:15-18).
The Day of Pentecost |
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From Adam?
"
We maist constantly believe, that God preserved, instructed,
multiplied, decored, and from death called to life, his Kirk
[Church] in all ages fra [from] Adam till the cumming of Christ
Jesus in the flesh. " --
The First Scottish Confession of 1560
" Definition: The church is the community of all true believers for all time. " -- Wayne Grudem, Systematic Theology (Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 1994), 853.
Regions and People Groups |
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Sequence |
Date † |
Region |
People |
Passage |
Theme |
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1 |
Pentecost |
Jerusalem |
Jews |
To the Jew first (Rom. 1:16). |
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2 |
Pentecost |
Judea and Samaria |
Samaritans |
Salvation is of the Jews (John 4:22). |
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3 |
Pentecost |
End of the Earth |
Gentiles |
I will provoke you to jealousy by |
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† Horatio B. Hackett, Commentary on Acts, p 23. |
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Jesus
Jesus
said, " I will build
(future tense) My church " (Mtt.
16:18). Jesus identified the key new ministry of the Spirit
which began at Pentecost as baptism with [en]
the Holy Spirit (Acts 1:5).
Peter
Peter
identified Pentecost as "the beginning.". He identifies
the new ministry which began then as baptism with [en]
the Holy Spirit and associates it with salvation (Acts
11:15-18).
Paul
Paul says
that the church is built upon the foundation which includes the
apostles (Eph.
2:20) and joins Jews and Gentiles as " one new
man " (Eph.
2:15). A foundation is only laid once and there are no Old
Testament apostles. He describes this new body as a mystery
which was not revealed in other ages (Eph.
3:5).
Context as an Anchor to
Understanding
Ignoring the contextual anchors
associated with the Promise of the Father has led to great confusion
about what is taking place. "A text without a context is a
pretext."
A New Ministry - Unknown in the Old
Testament
On the day of Pentecost, the disciples
were filled, indwelt, and baptized with † the
Holy Spirit. Filling and indwelling occurred in the Old Testament,
but not Spirit-baptism.
† En
can be
translated as in,
with, or by.
A New
Spiritual Entity - The Church
Both Jesus and
Peter emphasized Spirit-baptism as being the
most important element of Pentecost associated with the Promise of
the Father. Peter explained:
The promise is associated with salvation (Acts 2:38).
The promise is for all who believe (Acts 2:39).
Paul writes that Spirit-baptism joins all believers to the body of Christ (1Cor. 12:13).
The Spirit Has Already Come
The
Holy Spirit came within the historical context of Pentecost. He came
to form a new spiritual entity--the Church. We do not need to ask or
tarry for Him today. Our job as believers today is to yield
and be filled, not to seek a "second
work."
Spirit Baptism is Salvation
It
is impossible to be saved and not be baptized with the Spirit. It is
the defining event which joins every believer
to the body of Christ (1Cor.
12:13). As God breathed into dust to animate the first Adam
(Gen. 2:7) so the Spirit
animates the body of Christ, the last Adam (1Cor.
15:44).
Tongues were Spontaneous Known
Languages
When the Holy Spirit came, those who
were waiting had no idea what to expect. When they unexpectedly and
spontaneously spoke, it was in known human languages. Coaching
people to utter ecstatic speech is a practice foreign to Scripture.