until the whole world hearsmichael-burns,pt2.pdf · 2014. 12. 14. · periods (moses and his...

Until the Whole World HearsThe Promise Bringer

The Promise BringerThe Holy Spirit’s Action in the book of Acts

In the last daysthe mountain of the LORD’s temple will be

establishedas the highest of the mountains;

it will be exalted above the hills,and all nations will stream to it.

Many peoples will come and say,“Come, let us go up to the mountain of

the LORD,to the temple of the God of Jacob.

He will teach us his ways,so that we may walk in his paths.”

The law will go out from Zion,the word of the LORD from Jerusalem.

He will judge between the nationsand will settle disputes for many peoples.

They will beat their swords into plowsharesand their spears into pruning hooks.

Nation will not take up sword against nation,nor will they train for war anymore.

Isaiah 2:1-4

You are witnesses of these things. I am going to send you what my Father has promised; but stay in the city until you have been clothed with power from on high.”

- Luke 24:45-49

I will sprinkle clean water on you, and you will be clean; I will cleanse you from all your impurities and from all your idols. I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit in you; I will remove from you your heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh. And I will put my Spirit in you and move you to follow my decrees and be careful to keep my laws. Then you will live in the land I gave your ancestors; you will be my people, and I will be your God.

- Ezekiel 36:25-28

Ezekiel 36:25-28 - Promises

1. I will give you a new heart2. I will put a new spirit IN you

3. This will allow transformation4. This will enable people to do God’s will

and keep his covenant5. This will be for ALL people

John 7:39 By this he meant the Spirit, whom those who

believed in him were later to receive. Up to that time the Spirit had not been given, since Jesus had not yet been glorified.

John 14:16-26

And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another advocate to help you and be with you forever—the Spirit of truth. … you know him, for he lives with you and will be in you. I will not leave you as orphans; I will come to you... On that day you will realize that I am in my Father, and you are in me, and I am in you. “All this I have spoken while still with you. But the Advocate, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you all things and will remind you of everything I have said to you.

I wrote about all that Jesus began to do and to teach 2 until the day he was taken up to heaven, after giving instructions through the Holy Spirit to the apostles he had chosen… he gave them this command: “Do not leave Jerusalem, but wait for the gift my Father promised, which you have heard me speak about. For John baptized with water, but in a few days you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit.” ... But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.”

- Acts 1:1-8

Come UponThe Spirit of the LORD came powerfully upon him so that he tore the lion apart with his bare hands as he might have torn a young goat. But he told neither his father nor his mother what he had done.

- Judges 14:6

More examples: Num. 11:25; 1 Sam. 10:6; 11:6; 16:3

The Spirit Within

And I will put my spirit in you…

- Ezekiel 36:27

Come Upon- Limited to one person

or small group- Enables them to do

something for God’s purposes that they could not do on their own

- Could happen to anyone; did not require any special holiness

- Characteristic of the Old Covenant period

The Spirit Within

- Universally for all of God’s people- Transforms the heart enabling it to

be faithful to God’s covenant [through Christ]

- Requires a cleansing- Characteristic of the New Covenant

Come Upon

- Limited to one person or small group

- Enables them to do something for God’s purposes that they could not do on their own

- Could happen to anyone; did not require any special holiness

- Characteristic of the Old Covenant period

The Spirit Within

- Universally for all of God’s people

- Transforms the heart enabling it to be faithful to God’s covenant [through Christ]

- Requires a cleansing

- Characteristic of the New Covenant

Biblical Miracles- Quite rare given the timeframe of the Bible

- Most of the times where God enabled humans to perform miracles are limited to 3 periods (Moses and his disciples; Elijah and his disciple, Jesus and his disciples)

- The vast majority of history is not characterized by human-performed miracles

- Miracles typically confirm a specific message from God (if they happened all the time then this wouldn’t work)

- God can perform miracles at any time of his choosing

Spirit Upon Spirit WithinUnique

period of overlap

[Simeon] was waiting for the consolation of Israel, and the Holy Spirit was on him. –Luke 2:25

They saw what seemed to be tongues of fire that separated and came to rest on each of them…and [they] began to speak in tongues as the Spirit enabled them - Acts 2:3-4

Peter replied “Repent and be baptized, every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins. And you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. –Acts 2:38

- Is the Spirit limited or universal?

- Is it a specific gift or a transformation of the heart?

- Does it involve cleansing?

For John baptized in water, but in a few days you will be

baptized IN the

Holy Spirit…But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit

comes ON you

Ezekiel’s Promise

- The Spirit has been poured out universally

- Those in Christ can be immersed (baptized) in the transformation of the Spirit

BUT…

Ezekiel’s Promise- The Spirit has been poured out universally

- Those in Christ can be immersed (baptized) in the transformation of the Spirit

BUT…

- This promise has only been fulfilled for the Jews

- God’s faithfulness still hangs in the balance

God’s Faithfulness

…and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.

- Acts 1:5-8

“all peoples on earth will be blessed through you.” – Genesis 12:3

Overview of Acts

Jerusalem Acts 1:1-6:7

Judea & Samaria Acts

6:8-9:31

To the ends of the earth Acts 9:32-

28:31

God’s Promises

Abraham’s family of blessing for all nations – Genesis 12, 15, 17, 18

I will put my Spirit in you and transform you – Ezekiel 36

The Counselor will come to guide you – John 14, 16

God’s Promises


FULFILLED IN ACTS 2


FULFILLED IN ACTS 2


FULFILLED IN ACTS 2

God’s Promises Abraham’s family of blessing for all nations – Genesis 12, 15, 17, 18

FULFILLED IN ACTS 2 – FOR JEWS





But what about Judea, Samaria, and the ends of the earth?

Acts 8:12-17

But when they believed Philip as he proclaimed the good news of the kingdom of God and the name of Jesus Christ, they were baptized, both men and women . . .When the apostles . . . arrived, they prayed for the new believers there that they might receive the Holy Spirit, because the Holy Spirit had not yet come on any of them; they had simply been baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus. Then Peter and John placed their hands on them, and they received the Holy Spirit.

Acts 8:18-19When Simon saw that the Spirit was given at the laying on of the apostles’ hands, he offered them money and said, “Give me also this ability so that everyone on whom I lay my hands may receive the Holy Spirit.”

Acts 8:18-19When Simon saw that the Spirit was given at the laying on of the apostles’ hands, he offered them money and said, “Give me also this ability so that everyone on whom I lay my hands may receive the Holy Spirit.”

Was Simon referring to the universal indwelling of the

Spirit? Or was he referring to the empowering and enabling “coming upon” of the Spirit?

God’s Promises


FULFILLED IN ACTS 2, 8 – FOR JEWS, JUDEA & SAMARIA





But what about the end of the earth?

Acts 10:44-47While Peter was still speaking these words, the Holy Spirit came on all who heard the message. 45

The circumcised believers who had come with Peter were astonished that the gift of the Holy Spirit had been poured out even on Gentiles. For they heard them speaking in tongues and praising God. Then Peter said, “Surely no one can stand in the way of their being baptized with water. They have received the Holy Spirit just as we have.”

God’s Promises

Acts 2

Ezekiel’s great promise is fulfilled as the Spirit is given to all of God’s people (Jews)

The Spirit was also given upon certain individuals to empower them to carry out this new mission

Acts 8

Many would have protested against Samaritans being brought into the family

After baptism into the family, the Spirit came upon some of them to demonstrate acceptance

Simon wanted that ability

Acts 10

Surely the Gentiles could never be fully accepted into God’s family

Something radical had to be done

In a one-time act, God put the Spirit on the Gentiles, showing that he was accepting them

Who could now protest against them being baptized into the family?

What about Miraculous Gifts Today?

A Case Study – The Gift of Languages

The Gift of Languages The Purpose of the gift of other languages (tongues)

It verified that they were the one family of all nations

It was symbolic of the one family of all nations

It helped facilitate the spread of the one family of all nations

It was the ability to speak a known language that you had not learned

In Acts 2 people could hear the apostles in their own language

In 1 Corinthians Paul chides the disciples for showing off with their ability to pray in other languages when no one else in the church could understand them

Paul makes clear in 1 Cor. 12 that not all believers have the gift:

This means that it is part of the Spirit coming upon and would fade away when God’s purposes had been completed

The Miraculous Gifts

The miraculous gifts enabled God’s people to do things that they could not previously do to further God’s purposes of spreading the New Covenant

It verified the truth of God’s new revelation

Miracles have always been limited in scope and sequence

As the Scriptures came together (a process that took a couple of centuries), the gifts became increasingly unnecessary and eventually faded away

We should not expect a specific prophecy of their fading away

The indwelling of the Spirit was promised in the New Covenant

The coming upon of the Spirit was part of that overlap period that God used for his own purposes

The Role of Miracles

The primary work of the Holy Spirit has never been to do the miraculous

Miracles appear only when they are part of the Spirit’s work and are necessary

Miracles are never the primary point—they are a tool

Miracles don’t create faith, they reveal it

Human directed miracles are extremely limited throughout biblical history

Can Miracles Happen Today?

God can do anything

But God doing a miracle is quite different from the Spirit coming upon his people as a regular occurrence

There is no evidence that the Spirit has genuinely come upon God’s people in a systematic way since the 4th

century at the very latest (the completion, compilation, and distribution of the New Testament Scriptures)

Ecstatic utterances (tongues), healers, prophecies, etc., are only found in paganism between the 4th and 19th

centuries

The Greatest Miracle

But when he, the Spirit of truth, comes, he will guide you into all the truth. He will not speak on his own; he will speak only what he hears, and he will tell you what is yet to come. He will glorify me because it is from me that he will receive what he will make known to you. All that belongs to the Father is mine. That is why I said the Spirit will receive from me what he will make known to you.”

- John 16:13-15

The Greatest Miracle

“He answered, ‘Then I beg you, father, send Lazarus to my family, for I have five brothers. Let him warn them, so that they will not also come to this place of torment.’

“Abraham replied, ‘They have Moses and the Prophets; let them listen to them.’

“‘No, father Abraham,’ he said, ‘but if someone from the dead goes to them, they will repent.’

“He said to him, ‘If they do not listen to Moses and the Prophets, they will not be convinced even if someone rises from the dead.’”

Luke 16:27-31

TRANSFORMED!

And we all, who with unveiled faces contemplate the Lord’s glory, are being transformed into his image with ever-increasing glory, which comes from the Lord, who is the Spirit.

- 2 Corinthians 3:18

until the whole world hearsmichael-burns,pt2.pdf · 2014. 12. 14. · periods (moses and his...

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