The Spirit’s Ministry in the Early Church

Transcript

GR 1580
10/24/10
The Spirit's Ministry in the Early Church
Acts 2:14-21
Gil Rugh

We're in Acts 2 in your Bibles.  And as we have noted Acts 2 is one of the defining chapters in the Bible, one of those chapters that you have to understand and see in its proper perspective to understand the rest of what is going on in the New Testament.  It brings us to a prophetic turning point, if you will, in the Scripture.  Acts 2 marks the coming of the Holy Spirit in a new and different way.  As we noted in our previous study the Holy Spirit has always been present in the world.  And we noted back from the opening verses of Genesis where “the Spirit of God hovered over the waters.”  He was present and actively involved in the creation, brought about by the triune God.  He was active throughout the Old Testament.  He empowered and enabled the Old Testament prophets, speaking through them with new revelation from God and so on.

But Acts is clear, Acts 2 and passages leading up to this, that the Holy Spirit is coming in a new and more important way, if I can put it that way, more intimate way in carrying out, as we talked about, regeneration, indwelling, baptism, sealing.  And is a ministry, I say new and better way because Jesus told His disciples it was better for them that He would leave the earth and return to the Father because when He did He would send the Holy Spirit to them.  And so this would be better for them even than His presence at that time.  So we are privileged to be the beneficiaries of this new and special ministry of the Holy Spirit who now dwells within us.

Come back to John 16 where we looked at a number of passages.  John 15:26 told us, “when the Helper comes whom I will send you from the Father, that is the Spirit of truth.”  We'll see that expression again, that title, identification of the Spirit.  He is the Spirit of truth because truth comes from Him.  He proceeds from the Father.  When He comes He will testify about Me.  And then the verse I alluded to, verse 7, “But I tell you the truth, it is to your advantage that I go away; for if I do not go away, the Helper will not come to you; but if I go, I will send Him to you.” Again, we don't want to misunderstand.  It's not as though the Holy Spirit wasn't present, He is God, He is omnipresent and as we've seen He was present and active in clearly defined and revealed ways before this.  But He is coming in a unique and special way that He has not been present before.

And then you'll note, “when He comes, He will convict the world concerning sin, concerning righteousness, and concerning judgment.”  You know up until now, going all the way back to Genesis 12, all the way up to Acts 2 the focal point of  God's work in the ministry of the Holy Spirit has been within the nation Israel.  Now we are told when the Holy Spirit comes He will convict the world, not just Israel.  But He will convict the world of sin, righteousness, and judgment.  So people of all nationalities, races and languages would be included.

Also when the Holy Spirit came, He is the “Spirit of truth,” He will bring new revelation that has not before been given by God.  So you come down to verse 12.  “I have many more things to say to you, but you cannot bear them now.  But when the Spirit of truth comes...”  In John 15:26 we noted He was called the Spirit of truth.  Here again He is called the Spirit of truth comes, “He will guide you into all the truth;  He will not speak on His own initiative, but whatever He hears, He will speak; He will disclose to you what is to come.”  Remember in John 15:26 the Spirit of truth “proceeds from the Father.” And that's the point of He doesn't speak on His own initiative.  There is total agreement within the Godhead and He communicates from the Father.  Each person of the Godhead has His role that He carries.  “He will disclose to you,” verse 13, “what is to come.”

So with the coming of the Holy Spirit there will be new and additional revelation.  We've noted before this is what we call progressive revelation.  God has progressively revealed more of Himself and His will through the scripture.  There will be more and very significant revelation coming.  Now remember new revelation does not alter nor change prior revelation because the mind of God does not change.  It is His purpose and will unfolded.  But it will be new additional revelation that may add to what was revealed, it may have not been revealed prior to this.  So we'll have some prophetic matters like we saw in the book of Revelation expanding on what had been revealed in the Old Testament and further developing that.  We will have new revelation that had no prior revelation from God, like the doctrine of the church which in Ephesians 2-3 Paul says was a mystery that was not revealed to prior generations.  So the Holy Spirit is going to be bringing new revelation.  That is now what we have as our New Testament.

Back to Acts 2.  In connection with this new coming of the Holy Spirit as we saw earlier in the first part of Acts 2, there are three phenomena.  There is a noise of a mighty rushing wind, the roar of a wind.  You know sometimes you hear people talk about that they were caught up in a tornado.  What did it sound like?  It sounded like a roaring train, the wind.  Not saying it necessarily was like a tornado but it was like the sound of a mighty rushing wind.  There were also visible flaming tongues that came over the heads of the various believers there.  And then they spoke with other languages.  Those three phenomena are present in Acts 2.  Two of the phenomena are not repeated—the sound of the rushing wind and the flames like tongues of fire are not repeated.  They are unique to Acts 2 with the initial coming of the Spirit.  The speaking in other languages is repeated on two or three other occasions in the book of Acts that are similar to what happens in Acts 2.

Let's look at those.  Over in Acts 8.  As a result of the persecution that takes place under Saul, who will be converted in Acts 9, and we are more familiar with him as the Apostle Paul, but the great persecution scatters believers out of Jerusalem.  And one of the results of that is Philip that we came to know in Acts 6 as a deacon, at least that's the way we normally identify him, went and carried the Gospel to Samaria.  Verse 12 tells us “they believed Philip preaching the good news about the kingdom of God and the name of Jesus,  And they’re being baptized, men and women alike.”  Verse 14, “now when the apostles in Jerusalem heard that Samaria had received the word of God, they sent them Peter and John, who came down and prayed for them that they might receive the Holy Spirit.  For He had not yet fallen upon any of them; they had simply been baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus.  Then they [referring to Peter and John] began laying their hands on them, and they were receiving the Holy Spirit.”  And Simon saw that they were receiving the Holy Spirit.  It doesn't say they spoke in tongues but on two subsequent occasions in Acts it is clearly stated.  So most understand that it is implied that they did speak in tongues because how would Peter and John know they received the Holy Spirit.  How would Simon, who is an observer here, know that they had received the Holy Spirit.  He does not have a visible presence.  So most would assume and understand here that the reason they know they were receiving the Spirit, and this would almost be required as we'll see later in the book of Acts.  Remember the Samaritans and the Jews had no dealings with one another.  So the Samaritans were half-breed Jews, remember, as a result of deportations and importations of non-Jews into the land and so on.  And the remaining Jews had intermarried with non-Jews.  And they end up developing their own religious system, their own center of worship—Mt. Gerizim.  And what is happening here is the guarantee, God's plan, that you won't have a Samaritan church develop.  The Jews received the Spirit in Acts 2 and become the nucleus for the new church, the church now that is established in Acts 2.  Now Samaritans are saved, we've gone beyond the bounds of Judaism to half-Jews, if you will, mixed blood Jews.  But they didn't have any agreement.  But what happens is they don't receive the Holy Spirit until two apostles come.  And so they receive the Holy Spirit through the laying on of hands of Peter and John.  Why?  Well that guarantees they recognize the authority of the apostles that are at the head of the church, if you will, and so will submit themselves to their authority and their doctrine.

Come over to Acts 10.  We get all the way to Acts 10 and no one has carried the Gospel to Gentiles yet.  You are familiar with the account.  In the first part of Acts 10 Peter has a vision of a sheet being let down from heaven and the sheet contains all kinds of animals that were unclean to the Jews.  And to summarize this Peter is instructed to eat these animals, kill them and eat them.  And Peter says, I've never eaten anything unclean.  These are unclean animals that would be defiling to me as a Jew.  I wouldn't eat those.  Well after repeated exposure here, Peter is instructed then, don't call unclean what God has cleansed.

Then Peter has a knock at his door and he is invited to come present the Gospel at the house of  Cornelius, a Gentile who has assembled family and friends to hear the Gospel.  And when Peter comes, verse 34, he says for the first time he understands.  “I most certainly understand now that God is not one to show partiality, but in every nation the man who fears Him and does what is right is welcome to Him.  The word which is sent to the sons of Israel...” he goes on to tell them then—moves in to present the Gospel.  Verse 28, Peter had told them, “God has shown me that I should not call any man unholy or unclean.”  So he presents the Gospel to them, tells them in a very concise summary about the life of Christ on earth, then His crucifixion.  Verse 39, “ ‘they also put Him to death by hanging Him on a cross.  God raised Him up on the third day and granted that He become visible, not to all the people, but to witnesses who were chosen beforehand by God, [and primarily] that is, to those of us who ate and drank with Him after He rose from the dead.  And He ordered us to preach to the people and to solemnly testify that this is the One who has been appointed by God as Judge of the living and the dead.  Of Him all the prophets bear witness, that through His name everyone who believes in Him receives forgiveness of sins.’  While Peter was still speaking these words, the Holy Spirit fell upon all those who were listening to the message.”  You see what happens, they hear the Gospel, they believe it and the Holy Spirit falls on them.  “All the circumcised believers who came with Peter were amazed.” Circumcised, those of the circumcision, the Jews who had accompanied Peter on this extraordinary mission.  Why?  “Because the gift of the Holy Spirit had been poured out on the Gentiles also.”  How did they know the gift of the Holy Spirit had been poured out on the Gentiles?  “For they were hearing them speak with tongues,” other languages.  They can identify that with what happened to them back in Acts 2.  They are amazed.  “All the circumcised believers who came with Peter were amazed.”  I mean, they are dumbstruck.  Can you believe it?  God is giving the Holy Spirit to Gentiles.

You see how radical this is.  Again essential that the Gentiles demonstrate they have received the Holy Spirit in the same way the Jews did, or the Jews would have never accepted it.  In fact in Acts 11, as you are familiar with the account, the other apostles in Jerusalem call Peter to account and want an explanation from him for why he would go to the Gentiles and preach the Gospel.  You see their concept now, this is still for Jews.  And it may have gone to Samaritans, but they have Jewish blood in them.  Going to Gentiles, that totally crosses the line.  Gentiles could be saved, earlier, through Israel's history, but they had to become converts to Judaism.  Now we're just taking the Gospel to Gentiles.

So Peter reiterated in Acts 11 what had happened and how he ended up going.  God gave him a special vision that he had to go preach to Gentiles.  And then verse 15 he says, “and as I began to speak the Holy Spirit fell upon them just as He did upon us at the beginning.”  So you see important, he can tie this and say the same thing.  They spoke in other languages just like we did.  There is no getting around it.  It is not a subjective conviction I had in my heart that they had received the Holy Spirit, it was a demonstrable evidence.  Verse 16, “ ‘I remembered the word of the Lord, how He used to say, “John baptized with water, you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit.”  Therefore if God gave to them the same gift, [now we know the baptism of the Holy Spirit began in Acts 2] that He gave to us also after believing in the Lord Jesus Christ, who was I that I could stand in God's way.’  When they heard this, they quieted down.”  You see there was some real trouble here, they were really bothered that Peter would go to the Gentiles.  “And they glorified God saying, ‘Well then, God has granted to the Gentiles also the repentance that leads to life.’ ”   Gentiles could be saved as Gentiles.

So you see the need for the clear manifestation of the presence of the Spirit and the manifestation of the coming of the Spirit that the Jews had experienced was the gift of tongues.

The final reference of speaking in other languages or other tongues is in Acts 19.  And this is through the ministry of the Apostle Paul.  But he is a recognized apostle, well established by this time.  And he is at Ephesus.  The chapter opened up that Paul came to Ephesus and he “found some disciples.  And he said to them, ‘Did you receive the Holy Spirit when you believed?’  And they said to him, ‘No, we have not even heard whether there is a Holy Spirit.’  He said to them ‘Then into what were you baptized?’  They said, ‘Into John's baptism.’  Paul said, ‘John baptized with the baptism of repentance, telling the people to believe in Him who was coming after him, that is, Jesus.’ ”   Evidently these disciples at Ephesus, perhaps through travels had been in Jerusalem during the ministry of John the Baptist, had heard him, had become converts to John and his ministry.  They had been baptized with John's baptism in anticipation of a coming Messiah.  So verse 2, when he said “did you receive the Holy Spirit when you believed?” you have to put that in the context of the book of Acts, this transitional book.  Here we have another special group of people, the followers of John the Baptist.  They said “No, we have not heard whether there is a Holy Spirit.” Well they have heard about the Holy Spirit.  John preached, “I baptize you with water, there is One coming after me who will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and with fire.”  It's not that we have never heard about the Holy Spirit.  They hadn't heard that the Holy Spirit had been given.  So they were still ignorant that the Messiah had come.  So he tells them about Jesus, they are baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus.  Verse 6, “when Paul had laid his hands on them, the Holy Spirit came on them, they began speaking with [languages] tongues and prophesying.”

So what we see in the book of Acts is the coming of the Holy Spirit in this new and special way and His baptizing ministry in Acts 2, originally to the Jews.  They speak in other languages.  I take it in Acts 8 with Samaritans, another distinct group you have clear evidence and it seems that would be speaking in tongues.  In chapter 10 you have the Gentiles, they speak in tongues when they are baptized with the Holy Spirit.  In Acts 19, the followers of John.  Those are the occasions where the coming of the Holy Spirit is marked in a special way.  You have the presence of an apostle and you have the clear physical evidence that the Holy Spirit has indeed baptized them by their speaking in tongues.  That solidifies these four groups —Jews, Samaritans, Gentiles and disciples of John—under the authority of the apostles, under apostolic doctrine and teaching, which is crucial.  So you have the church unified under the authority of the apostles and their teaching in these early days.

There is another manifestation of tongues, speaking with other languages in First Corinthians.  Turn over there.  I take it that it is the same and yet different.  It is speaking in tongues, and I take it that is speaking in a language, but it is not the evidence of the baptism of the Holy Spirit.  It is one of the gifts of the Spirit discussed in I Corinthians 12-14.  I say it's not the necessary evidence because down in verse 30 of chapter 12 Paul says, “All do not have gifts of healing, do they?”  And this implies a negative answer.  “All do not have gifts of healing, do they?”  No.  “All do not speak with tongues, do they?”  No.  So here you have tongues given as one of the miracle gifts for the development and growth of believers and the body of Christ.  I say the miracle gifts because they happened in the context of the ministry of an apostle as Paul makes clear in this letter to the Corinthians, that they are the evidence of his apostleship.  I mean, it's a result of his ministry that they know the Lord.

Look over in II Corinthians 12:12.  Paul has had to defend his apostleship in this second letter to the Corinthians.  And verse 11 he says, “I have become foolish” in telling all the things that God has done and the power He has bestowed upon Paul.  “I have become foolish; you yourselves compelled me.  Actually I should have been commended by you, for in no respect was I inferior to the most eminent of apostles, even though I am a nobody.  The signs of a true apostle were performed among you with all perseverance, by signs, wonders and miracles.”  And here we see the miracle gifts, not just tongues but prophesying and so on, what we call the miracle gifts, were associated with the ministry of the apostles.  And even though the Corinthians are not apostles, they are the result of direct apostolic ministry and special miracle gifts are bestowed upon them through the Apostle Paul.  And so he can say “the signs of a true apostle were performed among you.”  And they would have to recognize we have received these special gifts from Paul.  They are the gifts of the Spirit but it is through the ministry of Paul that we have received them, otherwise it would be meaningless.  Verse 12, “the signs of a true apostle were performed among you with all perseverance by signs, wonders and miracles.”  If they had received these independently they could say we do those signs, too.  We have miracles, we do healings.  But there is no claim on their part that they have these independent of Paul's ministry.  He has bestowed these upon them.  That's validating his apostolic ministry.

The key to this, why?  Turn over to Hebrews 2, the letter to the Hebrews written to believing Jews.  But under pressure of persecution some of them are contemplating a return to Judaism.  And five times in this letter he breaks in with what we call the warning passages in Hebrews.  The first of these is in chapter 2, warning them there is no going back.  Any who would turn back from Christ have failed to experience true salvation in Him and warns them of that danger.  The chapter opens up, “For this reason we must pay much closer attention to what we have heard, so that we do not drift away from it.”  And the picture here is like a ship drifting past a safe harbor.  In those days with a sailing ship it's a catastrophe if you are in stormy weather and the ship doesn't make harbor, but goes by the harbor.  You just couldn't start up the engine and go back.  So the danger that you drift past the safe harbor of salvation in Christ.  “For if the word spoken through angels proved unalterable, and every transgression and disobedience received a just penalty, how will we escape if we neglect so great a salvation.  After it was at first spoken through the Lord, it was confirmed to us by those who heard.”  So the message of salvation that Christ presented, then those who heard it from Christ, the apostles, presented it.  “God also testifying with them,  [you see with those who heard the message, the apostles]  both by signs and wonders and various miracles and by gifts of the Holy Spirit according to His own will.”  And these special gifts given to the apostles were given to validate their ministry.  Necessary.  Why?  They were receiving new revelation from the Spirit.  The Apostle Paul comes and claims he has new revelation from God.  I mean, a lot of people claim to have revelation from God in those days as well as our day.  But God validated the ministry and the message of the apostles.

So verse 3 tells us that it was the word spoken through them that God confirmed with signs, wonders and miracles.  And people say, if He did it then, He's the same yesterday, today and forever, why doesn't He do it?  In character God is the same yesterday, today and forever, but God doesn't always do the same things.  I mean, He gave His word on Mt. Sinai to Moses and the ground trembled and there was smoke and fire.  God doesn't have to do that every time.  So to say Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today and forever, therefore He should be doing the same thing.  No, He walked the earth 2000 years ago in a physical body.  He doesn't walk the earth in a physical body today.  I mean, the fact that He is the same in character, nature doesn't mean that He acts the same way.  He gave His Word through the apostles.  Now we have it complete.  Why doesn't He do it today?  Because there is no new revelation being given.  We have the Word that was revealed as our New Testament.  So there is no need for these validating gifts.  Now you believe the Word that has been given.  That's the pattern.Come back to Acts 2.  Let me just say that miracles happen on occasion at various times through the Bible but there are really four times where you have an “outbreak” of miracles.  The first is with Moses and Joshua.  You have repeated miracles, miracles happening in large numbers during the days of Moses and Joshua.  A second time was with Elijah and Elisha, two great prophets—Elijah and his successor Elisha.  We have a series of miracles that take place through them.  A third period was during the time of Christ and the apostles.  So during His ministry on earth.  And then during the time of the apostles that carried on His direct ministry and the new revelation given as a result of the coming of the Holy Spirit and the finished work of Christ.  And then the fourth period will carry us to the coming tribulation and time of anticipating the return of Christ to earth, the ministry of the two witnesses in Revelation 11.  So you might say a cluster of miracles, a grouping of miracles.  There are other miracles that occur throughout the Bible but they don't happen with the frequency and the concentrated manifestation as we have during those four times.

Now even though that is true, we have miracles, even the ministry of the apostles is not miracle focused.  The miracles are simply there validating the new revelation they are proclaiming.  Go to I Corinthians 1, we'll just look at one passage on this.  Look at verse 17, “For Christ did not send me to baptize but to preach the gospel, not in cleverness of speech, so that the cross of Christ would not be made void.  For the word of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to those who are being saved it is the power of God.”  You see the focal point of the ministry as we saw as Paul opened the book of Romans, in Romans 1:16, it is the gospel that is the power of God.  It is the word of the cross that the world looks at as foolishness that is the power of God.  Verse 21, “God was well pleased through the foolishness of the message preached to save those who believe.”  Verse 22, “the Jews ask for signs” there is another sign.  Remember they asked Jesus during His earthly ministry, “what sign do you do to prove this?”  Another sign, another sign.  Herod wanted to meet Christ and have Him do a miracle as though we are putting on a side show here for the entertainment of someone.  What did Paul say?  The Jews look for signs—even he as an apostle—so I give them signs, lots of signs.  That's not what he says.  “We preach Christ crucified, to the Jews a stumbling block.”  Paul wasn't a traveling miracle show.  Miracles did accompany his ministry, demonstrating the validity of his message.  But his message stands on its own.  It is validated by the miracles but it is about the message.  That's true right down to today.  We are about the message.

There are going to be nineteen sermons or messages in the book of Acts, starting in Acts 2 with Peter.  There are 28 chapters, there are 19 sermons or messages in the book of Acts.  You see what the book of Acts is about?  Oh it's about miracles, miracles happen.  It's about the message and that's the power of God for salvation to those who believe.  It's the power of God.  We think if we could do miracles we could impress the world.  You could impress the world but that wouldn't bring salvation.  Remember what Jesus said?  “If they don't believe Moses and the prophets, they won't believe even if someone is raised from the dead.”  What happened?  Jesus Christ was raised from the dead.  Did the Jewish leadership fall on their faces, believing?  No, they found a reason to disregard it.  They would lie about it, they would pay the soldiers to lie about it.  If they don't believe Moses and the prophets, they won't believe even the miracle of resurrection.

So back in Acts 2.  We've had these mighty signs—the rushing wind, the tongues of fire, the speaking in other languages.  People say that the languages were for preaching the Gospel and so we need those today.  Not really because Peter is now going to stand up and preach the Gospel to them in the Greek language.  So Peter, verse 14.  Remember what they have done.  They are amazed at what is going on and they hear these different languages and they ask, verse 12, “‘what does this mean?’  But others were mocking saying, ‘they are full of sweet wine.’ ”   I mean, you hear different languages being spoken, of course some of these people are hearing their own language, and others, it's just a lot of garble.  They are drunk.

Peter stands up now and he is going to do the preaching that brings about the salvation.  There was the demonstration of the coming of the Spirit but now we're going to preach the Gospel and preach the message of Christ.  “Peter taking his stand with the eleven [and so you see the selection of Matthias in chapter 1, it's accepted here the twelve were back to being a unit, so Peter stands up with the eleven and him being the twelfth] he raised his voice and declared to them:  ‘Men of Judea and all of you who live in Jerusalem,  let this be known to you, give heed to my words.  For these men are not drunk, as you suppose, for it is only the third hour of the day.’ ”  The Jewish day went from 6 to 6, so like we go from 12 to 12, 12 midnight to 12 noon.  They went from 6 in the evening to 6 in the morning to 6 in the evening.  So the third hour of the day was 9 o'clock in the morning.  They are not drunk, it's only 9 o'clock in the morning.  Peter doesn't say that they couldn't get drunk, but they are not drunk, it's 9 o'clock in the morning.  And history says that the Jews at this time were evening drinkers.  Not saying they were evening drunks but they weren't drinking their breakfast.

What's the explanation?  “ ‘This is what was spoken of through the prophet Joel.’ ”   So he has their attention because he is addressing a Jewish audience.  He said, “ ‘Men of Judea and those who live in Jerusalem.’ ”   These are people assembled here, Jews.  Now he has called them to pay attention to what he says and the answer is not that they are drunk.  So let me tell you what the real answer is.  And now you get their attention.  “ ‘This is what was spoken of through the prophet Joel.’ ”  Well now you are saying that Joel prophesied what is happening here.  And this section has occasioned much discussion.  If you are a covenantal theologian, a reformed theologian, they take this to mean that this is all fulfilled on the Day of Pentecost.  There will be no future fulfillment to Israel.  It creates some problems for them because they have to spiritualize verses 19-20 with the signs in the heavens and the sun turning to darkness and the moon to blood.  So they have to move to allegorize that.  That's not really an explanation.  Some would say, and some Dispensationalists teach this, that there is no fulfillment here.  Peter is drawing a comparison or an analogy, showing how this is like what Joel prophesied so you shouldn't be surprised by it.  But I find that a little bit of a stretch.

I think there are a couple of possibilities.  I think the simplest explanation is that Peter draws together here a passage of scripture that includes the First Coming and the Second Coming of Christ.  So verses 17-18 talk about the pouring out of the Spirit.  That happens now in the context of the first coming of Christ and a result of the work He accomplished on the cross at His first coming and His ascension to heaven, which has resulted in His sending of the Spirit.  And we are fifty days after the crucifixion and resurrection of Christ.  So in connection with the first coming of Christ you have the giving of the Spirit.

Verses 19-20 carry us to events associated with the Second Coming of Christ.  And then in verse 21, and he quotes under the direction of the Spirit verses 19-20 because the Spirit intends him to include verse 21, which is true for the entire period, from the First Coming to the Second Coming, which is key to what he is presenting.  “Whoever will call on the name of the Lord will be saved.”

Look over in Luke 4.  You have a similar example from the earthly ministry of Christ.  Verse 16, this is early in the earthly ministry of Christ.  He has come to Galilee, verse 14, which is the region north of Jerusalem and Judea.  He returned to Galilee in the power of the Spirit.  News spreads about Him, He began teaching in their synagogues.  Verse 16, “He came to Nazareth, where He had been brought up; as was His custom, He entered the synagogue on the Sabbath, and stood up to read.  And the book of the prophet Isaiah was handed to Him. And He opened the book and found the place where it was written, ‘the Spirit of the Lord is upon Me, because He anointed Me to preach the gospel to the poor.  He has sent me to proclaim release to the captives, recovery of sight to the blind, to set free those who are oppressed, to proclaim the favorable year of the Lord.’  And He closed the book [verse 21] And He began to say to them, ‘Today this Scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing.’ ”

Now interesting thing about that, come back to Isaiah 61, which He is reading here.  You can see what Christ read.  Verse 1, “The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because the Lord has anointed me to bring good news to the afflicted; He has sent me to bind up the broken hearted, to proclaim liberty to captives, and freedom to prisoners, and to proclaim the favorable year of the Lord.”  This is the time of salvation.  And He stopped and closed the book.  Why?  The next statement, “and the day of vengeance of our God.”  Well wait a minute, that carries us to events of the Second Coming.

So you see part of the confusion for the Jews in the same passage you have just flowing, no indication in Isaiah 61, as we have it, with the first statement in verse 2, that there are 2000 years that it has been so far between “to proclaim the favorable year of the Lord” and the next statement, “and the day of vengeance of our God.”  The favorable year of the Lord and His salvation proclaimed in context of His first coming.  Jesus said that.  “This scripture is being fulfilled this very day” but only down to that statement.  So I have a little line drawn in my Bible under “to proclaim the favorable of the Lord” because there are 2000 years there.  There is a break.

Come back to Joel in Acts 2:17-18, these are what happened with the pouring out of the Spirit.  He poured out His Spirit on all flesh and this pouring out of the Spirit—you say it doesn't talk about them getting dreams and visions, but when we get over to Acts 10 we'll see Peter getting a vision, right?  We'll see prophesying going on and the gift of prophecy being present, in these apostolic days.  So verse 18 concludes, “ ‘I will in those days pour forth of my Spirit and they shall prophesy.’ ” And Peter is doing that now, he is speaking under the inspiration of the Spirit and he is giving forth the Word of God.

He quotes verses 19-20 even though they are not going to happen yet because the Spirit is bringing him down to verse 21, which is the invitation that Peter will be giving out:  “It shall be that everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.”  And that's what they will do as a result of the message of Peter.  So he includes it all, not because verses 19-20 are being fulfilled at this time, but because the Spirit has him include this passage, verse 21, which happens from the time of the First Coming all the way down to the time of the Second Coming.  And that's what will be going on through the book of Acts—proclaiming the message of Christ so that whosoever calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.  And it will be going out beyond Jews to all peoples of all nationalities.

It think that's the simplest and clearest way.  I have vacillated on that at times but I have gone back to what I think is the simplest understanding of the passage.  And it fits the way other passages are taken from the Old Testament.  And remember that's what Peter said was so difficult for the prophets to understand, when Peter wrote his letters.  They couldn't understand the suffering and death of Christ and the ruling and reigning of Christ and you can put them together in the same passage.  And this has to happen when the Messiah comes and it doesn't happen until later revelation that the Messiah is coming twice, separated by at least 2000 years.  So the pouring out of the Spirit, I take it that is the fulfillment of Joel regarding the pouring out of the Spirit.  Now Joel's prophecies also include things related to the Second Coming but Acts 2:21 is included with the events of the First Coming as well as the Second Coming.  So that ongoing ministry of the Spirit covers this entire time period.

Let's look further into the passage now.  “This is what was spoken of through the Joel the prophet:  [verse 17]   ‘It shall be in the last days,’ God says, ‘ that I will pour forth My Spirit on all mankind.’ ”  And that clear recognition which is repeated, this is the word of God, “this is what was spoken through the prophet Joel,” verse 16 says.  It is God who is speaking, Joel is the mouthpiece, basically.  The Spirit of God within him speaking, using the personality of Joel.  So you see the difference in the characteristics of the writings of the various prophets.  But it is God's word being spoken.  “In the last days I will pour forth all My Spirit on mankind.”  That expression “the last days” and related expressions like that were used to refer to the days of the Messiah because remember, as we see here, you compact them.  As we saw with Isaiah 61, they go together.  So the last days are the days the Messiah comes.  Well that would include His First Coming, that includes His Second Coming.

Come back to Isaiah 2:2, “Now it will come about that in the last days [there is our expression] the mountain of the house of the Lord will be established as the chief of the mountains” and prophesies here the coming kingdom, the Messianic days.  We won't go to these other passages for time, but Ezekiel 38:16, Hosea 3:5.

Come to Micah 4:1, “it will come about in the last days that the mountain of the house of the Lord will be established as the chief of the mountains.”  The kingdom of the Lord will be established and all the nations will come up to Jerusalem as he goes on.  But yet you go over and read Micah 5:2, “But as for you, Bethlehem Ephrathah, too little to be among the clans of Judah, from you One will go forth for Me to be a ruler in Israel.  His goings forth are from long ago, from the days of eternity.”  We're talking about the birth of the Messiah, His coming.  Well naturally for the Jews He is born to rule and reign, of course He is.  But the events surrounding His birth and earthly ministry at His first coming are separated by a couple thousand years, plus how much, we don't know.  You can see how they were confused.  You read this and say, we're talking about the coming of the Messiah.  He rules and reigns, He'll be born at Bethlehem.  We put this all together, the Messiah will be born at Bethlehem, He's going to be king.  That's why John the Baptist was confused.  When he is arrested and put in prison he came to be the forerunner of the Messiah.  He saw the Holy Spirit come upon Him but now he is in prison.  He can't understand, did I make a mistake?  Are you really the Messiah or should we be looking for someone else?  What has happened here?  We say, how could he be so confused?  Well he didn't understand that there are two comings of the Messiah.  So understanding that in Old Testament revelation, the last days.

Come over to Hebrews 1:1, “God after He had spoken long ago to the fathers in the prophets in many portions and in many ways [so that's our Old Testament], in these last days has spoken to us in His Son.”  The last days, the days when He will establish a kingdom.  But the days when He came to earth and suffered and died, walked this earth,  He “has spoken to us in His Son, whom He has appointed heir of all things.”  So these are last days.  That's why we say we live in the last days; the last days are from the first coming of Christ to the Second Coming, because when we find out what was seen as one event because it wasn't distinguished.  God didn't say it was one event, but there was no way to distinguish it in what was revealed in the Old Testament.  Now we see last days and it is stretched out because God has built the church in here.  Doesn't change what He prophesied here, doesn't change what He prophesied here.  But now there is new revelation, additional revelation that was not revealed before.

So events surrounding the first coming of Christ involve the giving of the Spirit because that is a result of His first coming, His death, resurrection, ascension to the Father and sending of the Spirit and the ministry of the apostles.  The last days.  Other passages—I Peter 1:20, I John 2:18, II Timothy 3:1.  So similar kinds of expressions.

Come back to Acts 2.  So he says “the last days” and we say that must mean then that we spiritualize these things. No, later revelation does not cancel out earlier revelation.  The fact that there are 2000 years between verses 18 and 19 doesn't alter the revelation in verses 17-18, nor does it alter or change the revelation in verses 19-20.  It will be exactly as it was given.  We have additional revelation now we're revealing and being unfolded.  There is a time space here.  We talk about a parenthesis and we hear people say, God didn't know so He had to change His plan.  No, God knew, He hadn't revealed it to us.  And so that's where we are.

What will God do in the last days?  “I will pour forth of My Spirit on all mankind.”  Joel's prophecy is in the context of judgment and in the context of blessing.  Here we have the blessing and the salvation it brings, verse 21.  The judgment will be a future part.  Part of the promised blessing is the giving of the Holy Spirit.  I have a number of verses here, come back to Isaiah 32.  If your Bible is titled the way mine is, they have titled chapter 32 The Glorious Future.  And it starts out, “Behold a king will reign righteously and princes will rule justly.”  And on to talk about the blessings of the reign of Christ.  But what does he say down in verse 15?  “Until the Spirit is poured out upon us from on high.”  The pouring out of the Spirit that Joel talked about.  You see this is put in, mixed together, because when we talk about the Messiah it's like you're going to talk about your life and things about your life.  And you share various things but you don't necessarily always put them in chronological order.  It's all true but it has to be sorted out and put in its chronological place.  You couldn't put this all in order until the later revelation was given.  That's why Daniel is told by God, “seal up your prophecy,” it's for a later time.  You can't have the full understanding of what you have prophesied, Daniel.  It's giving you a headache.  But you're not going to be able to sort it out.  But with the book of Revelation it is not sealed, it's open because with the completed revelation of God, now we can put it all together.  So here is an example, in the middle of this prophecy of the glorious future and reign of Christ, then you are promised the pouring out of the Spirit.  That's part of the Messianic ministry.  But it's later revelation that reveals there will be a gap between the pouring out of the Spirit connected with the first coming of Christ and the Second Coming of Christ to establish a kingdom.

Turn over to Ezekiel 38:16, “ ‘It will come about in the last days, I will bring you against My land, so that the nations may know Me that I am sanctified through you before their eyes, oh Gog.’ ”  The Gog and Magog prophecy, you'll notice “in the last days.”

Come back to Ezekiel 36:26, “ ‘Moreover I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit within you.  I will put My Spirit within you.’ ”  Well you know where this is?  This is after He talks about the gathering of Israel and the establishing of the kingdom.  Look at verse 24, “ ‘For I will take you from the nations, gather you from all the lands, bring you into your own land.  Then I will sprinkle clean water on you and you will be clean.’ ” —New Covenant provisions for the nation Israel and their ultimate restoration, salvation.  We'll talk about this in Romans 9-11.  Then He tells them here that “I will put My Spirit within you”—the pouring out of the Spirit and His indwelling ministry.  Now we find out that occurs and it will occur for Israel but its pouring out is what we are dealing with.

So you can see this mixture could not be sorted out.  I want you to understand, though, nothing has changed, that what now we understand doesn't change anything given before.  The pouring out of the Spirit and all associated with that happened just as was prophesied.  The coming glorious reign of Christ, the judgments that will precede that as we studied about it in Revelation, and the restoration and salvation of Israel, that will all take place just as it was prophesied.  What we have now is all that is revealed now.  Let's take this out and put it in an order that clarifies it.  And now we understand; is anybody here confused how Christ could suffer and die and also rule and reign?  We say no, there are two comings to earth of the Messiah.  But without that being revealed, how would you sort that out?  We say, He has to pour out His Spirit, “I will put My Spirit within you,” verse 27, at this time when the Messiah comes so that's when it will all happen.  Now we find out, no.  It's not that there is an error or change in Old Testament scripture.  That is so important because part of the conflict we have, I mentioned Covenant Theologians, is those that take the view that you can reinterpret the Old Testament with the New.  We don't reinterpret and redo the Old Testament.  God's Word doesn't change.  We have clarification, we have additional revelation, but nothing has changed in that sense.

Ezekiel 37:14, “ ‘I will put My Spirit within you, you will come to life, I will place you on your land.’ ”  That will be true for Israel, but we find out the Spirit is poured out and placed within the Jews in Acts 2.  That will help on a broader scale, a national scale, but that's a follow through of the giving of the Spirit.

Look at Ezekiel 39:29, “ ‘I will not hide My face from them any longer, for I will have poured out My Spirit on the house of Israel,’ declares the Lord.”  He is pouring out His Spirit, He will pour it out on all flesh as Joel prophesied.  But Israel experiences that in a preliminary way.  Now the national experience of that, we'll find out more fully and particularly in Romans 11, then all Israel will be saved.  But that pouring out of the Spirit you wouldn't understand that pouring out of the Spirit, that indwelling of the Spirit, that foundation for the New Covenant is established at a first coming of the Messiah, the full realization of its promises and what is established with Israel will happen with the Second Coming of Christ.  Zechariah 12:10 is another verse.

Come back to Acts 2, we'll just tie this together.  So “this is what was spoken of through Joel the prophet” and these are the things that would take place.  The Spirit is poured out on all mankind.  Peter doesn't understand this at this point because we saw that in Acts 10—he still didn't understand Gentiles.  So all mankind, well all flesh, well “sons and daughters... young men and old men... bond slaves and free... men and women.”  But in his mind, but only Jews.  It will be a progressive revelation for Peter to understand “all mankind” means all mankind, all flesh.  And it will include all groups: men, women, young, old, slaves, free.  But it also will include Gentiles and Samaritans as well as Jews.  So the scope here will be, the understanding of that will be, future.

And they will “see visions” and “prophesy.”  Later we'll see Philip has four daughters who prophesy.  We have instructions in Corinthians for women who prophesy or prophet’s period.  So this goes on in the days associated with the first coming of Christ...as a result of the work of His first coming in those early days when new revelation is given.  Then we'll have the break and verses 19-20 are yet future.

Then we have a truth that carries us back to the giving of the Spirit.  So we can see how the Scriptures pull together and God's purposes are clearly unfolded.  Nothing has changed, but the revelation now given and being expanded—and Peter's horizons will blow wide open when we get to chapter 10 with the Gentiles through the special intervention of God.  We see a remarkable work is being done by God in a new and special way.  And there is no time I would rather live on this earth than the time in which we live and the privilege we have to have the indwelling Spirit and to be ministering on this earth in these days, last days, and days in anticipation of the coming of Christ for the church and His ultimate return to establish His kingdom.

Let's pray together.  Thank you, Lord, for the truth of Your Word.  Lord, matters that cause us to be diligent to show ourselves approved to You, workmen that have no reason to be ashamed before You because we are handling accurately and correctly Your Word, the Word of truth.  Thank You for what You have revealed.  Thank You for the presence of Your Spirit who enables us to understand this revelation.  Lord, thank You for the presence of the Spirit who enables us to live in His power, manifesting Your character in these days.  Thank You for the power of the Gospel of Jesus Christ to bring salvation to all who believe.  We praise You in His name, amen.